


Ratchet and Clank: Lost in Reality

by SweetTeaholic



Category: Ratchet and Clank
Genre: AU, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M, Multi, This is the Redux version that I posted up on FF.net, this fic is going to kill me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-07-22 07:05:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7424845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetTeaholic/pseuds/SweetTeaholic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>-summary coming soon-</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: An Unexpected Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Takes place post-CiT and games that follow are non-canon to this story. I started this late 2009 and revamping it what do you expect!

**-ACT ONE-**

**-Chapter One: An Unexpected Surprise-**

 

Apogee Space Station, once home of famous explorer Max Apogee.  He had vanished years ago during his travels through the Polaris Galaxy and his whereabouts still remain a mystery.  His daughter, Talwyn, had been left under the care of Cronk and Zephyr, a pair of former war bots who had fought during the Great War.

It had been a few years since her father went missing. Captain Slag and the rest of his ruthless pirates raided their space station and stole a Lombax artifact. Her father went after them -- but never came back. Rumors came around that he was dead, but she didn’t believe it…

She knew he was still alive. He was out there, but she was left wondering where he could have gone. 

In that time, she developed a strong relationship with the universe’s greatest hero, known as Ratchet, as well as his friend, Clank. It had been two years since she had first met the Lombax. They had quite a few things in common. They shared a sense of adventure, both were risk takers and both would give anything to save those who they were close to, even if it meant their lives. But the thing they most had in common was losing their fathers. 

Since the loss of her father, Talwyn thought she had no one else left to confide in.  Yes, she had her guardians, and they were pretty much the closest thing she had to a family now, but still…  Her father was missing, believed to be dead.  Yet she was sure he was still out there, in spite of Cronk and Zephyr expressing their doubts on the matter.

But Ratchet. He never grew up with a family there for him and had been an orphan all his life. He really only had Clank when it all came down to it. And when Clank was kidnapped by the Zoni, Ratchet felt lost.

In the time they had fought Tachyon and searched for Clank, they had grown a strong bond.

Talwyn looked out the window of her room, staring out into space.  The duo wound up staying at the Apogee Space Station since they didn’t have anywhere else to go at the moment.  Besides, Polaris had been home to many revelations - the Lombaxes, the Great Clock, the Cragmites, and so much more.  Talwyn didn’t mind that they stayed.  She enjoyed their company and was glad to have them around as long as they needed.

Still gazing into space, she let out a sigh and turned the other way, leaving her room…

 

* * *

 

As she walked around the station though the hallways, she noticed Ratchet sitting on the ledge by the window.  He was fixing a trinket that Cronk gave him. Being quite handy with his wrench, he thought he was the right man for the job.

Talwyn walked up to him.

“Hey,” she called, giving a bit of a wave.

“Huh?” The Lombax turned around, and looked over at the girl. He cracked a small smile. “Oh, hi, Tal. What’s up?”

“Nothing much, just thought I would check up on you. Where’s Clank?”

“Cronk mentioned that he was helping him with something, didn’t say what though.”

“Oh, okay.”  Talwyn quietly watched as Ratchet continued to play around with the trinket.  Silence brewed for a good ten seconds before she spoke once again, “So, um…”

“Almost done!” Ratchet finished tightening the last few screws and then gave it a good whack. The machine started running again, moving its gears at a fast rate. “There, that should do it…” He put the trinket down and rubbed his hands together, getting the dust off before looking right over to Talwyn. “You look quite pretty today, Tal. What’s the occasion?”

She looked down at her green summer dress with black dress shoes. “Oh? I just felt like wearing something different today, I guess.” Her cheeks turned a bit red. She didn’t think Ratchet would say something like that, let alone notice.

“Well, it looks nice on you.” Leaving a small smile on his face, he leaned back and dug into his pocket. Ratchet then took out a pocket watch, which was previously owned by Azimuth before his demise. He opened it, showing the picture of Alister alongside Kaden, Ratchet’s father, as the gears moved around in a fragile, but sure manner. His smile quickly turned into a frown as he glared at the picture.

“You miss him, don’t you? Alister, that is?”

Ratchet let out a sigh. “Um, yeah…” He then closed it, looking back up at Talwyn. “He was the first Lombax I ever met.There was so much I could have learned from him - about my race.  My father…”

He then looked back down at the watch in his hand, slowly putting it back in his pocket.

She wanted to comfort him in some way but she knew that no matter what she said she couldn’t erase the pain. “Ratchet, I-”

A beeping sound started blaring around her waist, causing both to perk up in surprise.

“What was that?” Ratchet exclaimed.

Talwyn quickly silenced it, and then took her bandana off, tying it around Ratchet’s head, covering his eyes.

“Huh? What you doing, Tal?”

“ _Ooh_ , you’ll see.” She then took his hand and dragged him with her while she walked the halls. “No peeking now, got that?”

“Where are you taking me?” Ratchet asked, thoroughly perplexed.

She didn’t say anything for the whole walk until she stopped; still gripping his palm. She then knocked on the door. “Cronk? We ready?”

“All ready, Ms Apogee!”

“Ready for what?” Ratchet’s ears went down in a bit in confusion. “Okay, what’s going on?”

She heaved him into the dark room. She then took off the blindfold. “Okay, open your eyes.” The lights went on, roaring a yell which what sounded like a huge crowd…

**_“Surprise!”_ **

The Lombax’s ears popped up from the excitement. He looked around the room; surprised to see it full of people. “Whoa, What the-“

“Happy birthday, Ratchet.” Talwyn followed her words up with a peck on the cheek.

Turning red, his ears again popped up from the unexpected kiss. “Wow, um thanks guys,” he muttered, after touching his face with his hand.

“Hey there, Birthday Boy,” said Captain Qwark, walking up from behind and picking up Ratchet by the neck. “How does it feel being a year older?”

“Qwark, you’re…choking me!”

“Oops! Sorry, Ratchet!” He dropped his Lombax pal to the ground, shrugging sheepishly as Ratchet struggled to regain his breath. “Just got a bit over excited.”         

“Yeah, I can see that.” Finally catching air into lungs again, he looked up at the muscle-bound hero. “Did you get Snowball tamed? I know it…almost ate you that one time.”

Qwark looked outside the window, seeing his pet War Grok thrashing up a few ships with its fist. “Yeah, she’s tamed,” Qwark said, gearing his eyes back to back to Ratchet, failing to hide his unease. “Oh, that! She was just a little eager, that’s all. Good thing that Vullard ship came along to pick us up.” He ended with a small nervous chuckle as he looked back out.

“Right.” Ratchet looked the other way over to where Talwyn was sitting, talking to the Plumber and Cronk. Qwark eyed Ratchet, who he was looking at, and then back at him. Seeing his expression, he thought he would give a few words of _‘advice.’_

“She looks quite beautiful, doesn’t she?” Qwark mouth took on a big cheesy grin as he put his face in Ratchet’s. “She reminds me of this foxy young thing I met once while filming My Blaster Runs Hot! A little bit of a thing, but her personality could span light years!” He then gave the lombax a little nudge.  “C’mon birthday boy, you have to lay down the moves.”

“Wait, _what_?!” His ears popped up, trying to grasp what Qwark was talking about.

“Oh, come _on_ , you know who I’m talking about,” Qwark whispered, eyeing Talwyn before gazing back at Ratchet. “You know you want-”

“Whoa! Hey, we’re just friends!” Ratchet interrupted, giving him an eerie look.          

“ _Sure_ you are!  Believe me my friend, if there’s one thing this captain knows about, its love.”

After saying it proudly, Ratchet put his palm on his face, shaking his head slowly, “Yeah, well, ‘captain of love,’ maybe you should give your advice to someone else with girl trouble. We’re just friends, you know that.”

“Oh suit yourself. Hide your feelings if you must, but I know what you’re thinking in that little Lombax head of yours.” He put his finger on the furball’s forehead as he said his last words, grinning once more. After he finished speaking he turned around back to the window and saw Snowball eating the metal off some space cruisers. “Um, excuse me, Ratchet. I’ve got some, er, _business_ to attend to.”

Qwark quickly ran out of the room shouting to his pet, even though he wasn’t even close enough for Snowball to hear him. Ratchet just shook his head, watching the guy leave.

While Qwark wasn’t the wisest person out there, the Lombax still had a soft spot for the guy. Maybe it was because he had to put up with him for so many years…

…Though that didn’t mean he wouldn’t at least want to whack the guy on the back of his head sometimes.

As he looked back at Talwyn he then heard a little voice from below him…

“Hello Ratchet.”

The Lombax’s ears went up a bit after hearing the voice before looking down.

“Oh, hey there Clank.”

Clank looked up to his taller companion with a small smile. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks, pal.” Smiling back, he looked around the room, amazed with all the decorations and people that were there. “I have to say, everything looks great. So, you planned this whole thing, did you?”

“No, it was Talwyn who planned it all; I just helped out with setting up.”

“Oh? Well, um, she did a good job.”

“Yes, she did.” Silence spanned for five seconds between the two of them before Clank decided to start a conversation again. “So, what was Captain Qwark talking to you about?”

“Oh, nothing really…” He didn’t bother looking over to him as he spoke, feeling awkward talking about the chat he and Qwark had.

“Is there something wrong Ratchet? You have been pretty quiet for the most part.”

“No, there’s nothing wrong. I’m just thinking.” He stared out into space for a second or two before looking back down to Clank. “Sorry I’m not too talkative tonight.”

Clank smiled, even though on the inside he was worried about him. It had been four months since the Great Clock event. After Azimuth passed on, Ratchet was quieter than usual.

Clank knew Azimuth was the closest thing he had to a father even with the limited time they shared together. There was so much Ratchet wanted to know but never got the chance.

He then looked outside the window, seeing Qwark trying to get his pet to obey him, though it wasn’t going too well.

“Down Snowball, down!”

Clank shook his head, glancing back at Ratchet without a word. He knew something was bothering him. He thought it was best to talk to him about it after the party. Right now he just wanted him to try to enjoy himself…

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in the Vela Sector on planet Torren IV …

 

* * *

 

Molonoth Fields. It was once the home to the Fongoids.

That was, before they left their civilization and technology behind. It was never known to most why they did, but it was taken under the Vullards, becoming the biggest junkyard in the Polaris galaxy.

They imported junk, they exported junk -- their whole profession was just working with junk. However, although it was all just junk made out of once used technology, they treasured it…

* * *

 

The air was chilled that very night. A wormhole appeared within open space where no one was around. Walking out was a mechanical body. As the portal slowly closed, he looked around with his one eye to see if the coast was clear. The last thing he wanted was people learning about ‘their’ plans.          

After a quick scan, he opened up another portal, this time with robotic soldiers coming out in the same black and red colors he was wearing. As they were arriving, he started to pace in the opposite direction.

Coming to a halt, a Vullard looked up to him greeting the stranger.

“Hello Outsider, what brings you here?” he asked in a polite yet cheerful tone.

He glared at the creature. “I’m here to gain entry into the Hollow.” His voice was deep, bearing a tone that would cause anyone to feel chills running down their spine. His band of soldiers came up behind him as they looked at the civilian with their glowing red eyes. In spite of their intimidating presence, the Vullard remained composed, not seeing him or his troops as a threat.

“Sorry Outsider, but the Hollow is off limits to those who do not work here. You will have to find it on your-”

The visitor quickly grabbed him by the neck, not taking his cheerfulness lightly as his free hand charged up an electrical pulse. “Give me entry now, or meet your doom!” He commanded, grinding his teeth in irritation from the answer he was given.

“Now, now Outsider; there’s no need for violence. Please understand tha-” Not letting the Vullard finish his words; Vorselon electrocuted him as his blood splattered on the wall near by. The current coming from his hand died out.  Dropping what was left of the body, he kicked it out of the way, not caring where he laid.

“Pitiful creature…” Not having any regard for the victim, he slowly turned around facing his army. “Storm the Hollow, and kill anyone who refuses to co-operate. Those who do will face my judgment.”

He slowly slithered over to the control panel and fiddled with the buttons. As the entrance to the Hollow opened up, he put on a grin, softly laughing…

**-End Chapter One-**


	2. Chapter Two: A Nefarious Mind

**-Chapter Two: A Nefarious Mind-**

  


Equilibrium Mental Institution: a little space station for the insanely ill. The worst of the worst are sent here and about over a thousand employees in the institute kept everything under control. Cacophonic laughing and screaming loud enough that it kept the hallways awake with noise.

Security was tight, almost on par with Zoodom Prison as the Polaris Defence Force would send inmates who were too much of a hassle for standard containment. There had been many attempts to escape this horrid place, but only one person in past records had been known to succeed...

There was a batch of patients they had to care for, but one person in particular was being held here…

* * *

 

Nefarious looked up to the ceiling of his fully padded room. His left eye twitched from the rage that was bundled up in his circuitry.

He was held here for the last four months after his defeat at the hands of his arch nemesis. Luckily he slid off of that ship before it collided with the space station, though he started to view it as a curse considering the condition he was in now.

His hands were tied by the straitjacket restraining him and he couldn’t break free from it due to his defenses being shut down. If anyone was to blame for him being stuck here in the first place, it would been his oh so ‘trusty’ servant…

* * *

 

_Nefarious attempted to focus his eyes, only to realize that they were missing._

_“Argh. Have to switch to radar...”_

_The dish inside his head pointed forwards, using sonic sounds to help him figure out his surroundings.  Little by little he got up; trying to keep his balance right from the dents he had in his legs. Almost everything was beaten up, likely from the explosion that caused him to drift through the cosmos. His whole body was warped, along with a few cracks and openings exposing his insides._

_Holding onto a pole, he held his head where his scar laid. Finally getting his balance straight, he let go of the light post and then stood up instantly despite his limp._

_“Lawrence!” He yelled at the top of his voice box, calling his butler’s name. No answer was received.  Nefarious yelled again, and started ‘looking’ around for Lawrence, but he was nowhere in sight._

_“Lawrence? Lawrence, where are you?_ **_Lawrence!_ ** _”_

_He didn’t remember what happened back at the space station after his defeat. Didn’t help he was a brain dead radio at the time._

_“What the heck happened anyway?”_

_He hadn’t seen the need to update his radar over the years, leaving him with a rather crude piece of technology.  As he approached a pole the faulty radar system led him to believe it was someone he knew._

_“Oh, hello mother, fancy seeing you here!” The pole said nothing, as would be expected._

_“Mother?”_

_Still no reply._

_“Arh, fine, you were never the talkative type.” He walked off in frustration._

_Scratching his head, Nefarious heard humming from behind his back. Turning around he ‘saw’ the Plumber, fixing some plumbing issues in one of the Vullards’ kiosks that are often kept on their moons. Nefarious walked up with his balance still droopy, trying to be as polite as he could._

_“Umm…Excuse me?”_

_The Plumber jumped up a little before turning around to the mad doctor. “Oh, ya startled me for a moment there.” He looked at the robot for a second. “Hey, yer that Doctur Nefayrious fellow, ain’t ya?”_

_Nefarious was still scratching his head in confusion. “Yes, that would be me.”_

_“Heh, the galactic attorneys were lookin’ for ya the whole week. Couldin’ find your body or anythin’.”_

_The robot was still baffled. “Where am I?”_

_“Oh, you?” the Plumber said in a cheerful tone. “Yer on one of them moons here in the Phylax sector. Don’t mind me, though; I’m just fixin’ the Vullards’ plumbin’, me bein’ a plumber and all.” He took a closer look at Nefarious. “Ya missin’ yer eyes?”_

_“Yes, I can’t tell a Sandmouse from a Snagglebeast without them!”_

_“Well, I happened upon these optical receptors the other day. Think they may be yers?” The Plumber put them in Nefarious’ hand and he quickly put them into their sockets. He blinked a few times before gaining proper sight again._

_“Why, indeed they are! I can see!!” He turned to the Plumber. “You may be spared when I take over the universe!” followed by a sinister laugh._

_“…may be spared.” The Plumber gave a small laugh as he turned back around humming, returning to his work._

_Having full eyesight again; he noticed that one of his pipes around his chest was dangling down, while most of his lights on the rest were dim if not even working at all. The same applied for other parts of his body as well._

_He quickly discarded that fact however. Nefarious was still baffled with his situation and where Lawrence could have gone. He trusted his butler to be around.  He would have no reason to abandon him otherwise._

_Would he?_

_He shifted his eyes back over to the plumber. “Do you happen to know where Lawrence went?”_

_Still having his back facing him, he rubbed his beard as he pondered. “Lawrence... Lawrence? Oh, that butler guy yer always with! Nah, I haven’ seen him around here. Didin’ find his body neither.  I did see a little ship flyin’ before that space station of yers blew up. Looked like an escape pod. I swear I saw someone that looked just liked him in it. Could be mistakin’ though. Oh well…”_

_As the plumber returned to his work, Nefarious’ pupils widened._

_“What do you mean by_ **_escape pod_ ** _?”_

_“Oh, I don’t know, it was hard to tell. I was flyin’ to get to work and noticed a little ship blastin’ off from a saucer of some sort. Also saw that Lombax fellow on it as well. He jumped off to another ship before it collided with the station.”_

_He heard enough. Nefarious’ right eye started to twitch as his fist shook with anger._

_His own butler, someone he trusted for so many years, left him on his own ship to fall his death without a second thought. Purple energy came from his hands as his rage builded up. “Lawrence…” he growled his assistant's’ name to himself in a soft yet growly tone._

_“Who knows where he could be now. Hey, ya mind handin’ me that-”_

_Before he could finish his own sentence, Nefarious threw a ball of dark matter unintentionally at the Plumber, nearly hitting him. The scientist screamed out Lawrence’s name once more as he engaged his hover boots and wings. One of his wings managed to partially retract while the other completely failed to deploy. He flew right out into space with the hopes of finding his former partner so he could rip him apart limb by limb._

_His flight was awkward due to his malfunctioning wings, but he didn’t care. All that was on his mind was the thought of making Lawrence pay for what he did to him. Oh, he wanted him to pay_ **_dearly_ ** _…_

_The Plumber rubbed his head as he watched Nefarious fly off._

_“Remind me to be careful what I say in front of that guy if I meet him again…”_

* * *

 

_The sound of rock music filled the room.  Lawrence and the rest of his band were practicing for some upcoming gig at the Moonlight Lounge. After playing the tune, he put down his bass and faced the rest of the members._

_“Okay, take five.”_

_As his team left, he picked up his instrument again and played it a bit for himself. He was trying to write another song since ‘Bass Odyssey’ had gotten some good feedback._

_The last nine days since Nefarious’ death had treated him well. Sure, he was the one who left him on the saucer.  Not because there was no time to help his boss, rather he acted out of spite..._

_Every waking second of his day, Nefarious would scream into his ear and order him around in the worst possible way. Sure it was his job, being his butler and all, but for all of his boss’ intelligence; he wasn’t the most ‘street smart’. The lack of common sense was his downfall, as well as the pain that made up Lawrence's life._  

_There were good times though that made his job a bit easier. Making snark comments about his employer that fell on deaf ear and the many times the doctor froze up and needed a good whack on the head when he wasn’t even aware of it. That was always the best part of his day._

_After the escape pod took off, Lawrence regretted nothing. He didn’t care if Nefarious was dead or not -- he wanted it that way. With his new found freedom, he prayed that he would be able to spend every waking moment of it feeling alive._

_He was spaced out the whole time that he almost didn’t realise that the door was thrown open.  He was finally bought back to reality by an awfully familiar shriek coming from behind him._

**_“Lawrence!!!”_ **

**_That_ ** _very awful shriek._

_No, it couldn’t be him, he was dead._

_Lawrence continued once again to play his bass until he heard it again, but this time louder. There was no way he could ignore it now._

_“Lawrence! Turn around right now!!” Lawrence did as commanded of him, maintaining his calm in spite of how shocked he was by what he was seeing._  

_Nefarious gave him an evil glare.  Lawrence immediately knew how enraged he was just by looking in his eyes._

_“You’re_ **_alive_ ** _?!” His surprise finally got the best of him but he composed himself so quickly that it was impossible to catch. Lawrence cleared his throat. “I mean, you’re alive sir…”_

_Nefarious was leaning on a pile of instrument cases with his arms crossed, tapping his foot while he gave him a fierce look, not showing any amusement at all._

_“Yes, Lawrence, I’m alive, right here in front of you…” Nefarious replied in a sarcastic tone.  He gave a good look around, giving a small smile. “Nice place you have here.”_

_“Yes, it is, sir, though rent could have been a bit lower,” the butler bot talked as if nothing happened; like a normal day at work. Sure, he was freaking out on the inside but hell if was he going to show that. “Regardless; it is good to see you are still in one piece, Sir.  If I knew you were alive, I would have came back for-”_

_It didn’t take along for Nefarious to burst out laughing as the words came out of Lawrence’s mouth. He knew downright he was lying, debating if he should find that fact either cute or pathetic._

_Lawrence’s expression didn’t change in the least. All he did was watch his maniacal friend crack up. Not that he wasn’t already off his rocker..._

_“Oh, that’s funny, Lawrence. That’s_ **_really_ ** _funny.” His laughter got louder as he held his head where his scar laid, with his other hand holding the crack on the side of his stomach in his amusement._

_Lawrence just looked around the room, trying to figure out what he found so hilarious._

_“Um, sir, are you alright?”_

_The mad robot’s cackling finally calmed before paying his attention back to Lawrence. “Oh, yes, I’m feeling great. Yeah, I’ve got a few scratches and all, but nothing that can’t be fixed.” He then went back to laughing though not as violently as before._

_“Well I’m glad to hear that sir…” Lawrence then turned his back on him, only now starting to worry. He knew he was hiding something from him, and whatever it was, it could not be good…_

_Nefarious left his humorous tone as it moved onto a serious one. “But, there is one little, bitty, small thing that I am a bit annoyed about.” He looked over to Lawrence with a smile._

_“What would that be sir?”_

_“Oh, I don’t know. I was kind of traveling around in space for a while until I learned something from a little birdie…” He softly snickered and then turned back over to his servant. “You know, the fact you…_ **_left me on that saucer!!!_ ** _” He yelled furiously, with both his hands sparking with dark energy._

_Lawrence started taking a few steps back as the mad doctor walked closer to him, calmly trying to sway him. “Sir, please, it was all a misunderstanding.”_

_“A misunderstanding, huh?” The energy from his hands enlarged as he put his face in his friend’s.  “That’s funny you say that, since that’s not how I see it…”_

_“Please, sir, forgive me. I really would have come for-” A ball of dark matter flew at him, and Lawrence swiftly ducked before it could do him any harm. He looked over at Nefarious, watching his master’s face full of rage as he prepared to throw another attack. Lawrence tried running away, causing him to trip on one of the wires in the room._

_“Sir, I didn’t mean what I did. I swear.”_

_Nefarious then fired another ball at him, which barely hit Lawrence as he rolled out of the way. He got back up and tried to find a place to hide while balls of energy flew around the room._

_“Lawrence!!!”_

_His servant hid under a desk hoping he didn’t spot him before hand. Lawrence took out a cell from his pocket and started to dial a number._

_“Come on, Lawrence, I just want to discuss things with you, that’s all…” Nefarious followed his sentence with a small chuckle, with the energy from his hands dying down a bit. “We did have some good times now, didn’t we?  Now why don’t you come out? I won’t be_ **_that hard_ ** _on you!”_

_After waiting for a good few seconds, the phone finally picked up with a voice coming out from the other end. “Hello, Equilibrium Mental Institution…”_

_“Yes, hello, I’m having a slight problem…” Lawrence turned around for a second and continued talking on the phone._

_“This about the one you reserved a room for?”_

_Nefarious scanned the room, not seeing Lawrence anywhere in sight. “Pff, Lawrence, you know I don’t like games.” Still figuring out where he could be, he looked over to the desk his acquaintance was hiding under, putting on a smirk. “Fine, you want to play hide and seek, then we’ll play hide and seek.”_

_After hanging up the phone, Lawrence heard a few footsteps coming his way. He was surprised how calm he was able to remain during the whole grim situation. Nefarious wasn’t one to mess with, he knew that; but to have to experience the fury he would put down upon his enemies..._

_The steps became louder, causing him to shut his eyes from the mere thought of what was about to happen. After a few seconds though, he was met with silence. There was no more clanking. He opened his left eye first, then the other after as the seconds went by._

_He questioned why his former master walked away. Maybe he didn’t think he was under the table, or perhaps he gave up? Still, the feeling of relief was upon Lawrence and he let out a sigh. However that feeling soon went away as the desk was kicked out of the way._

_He turned over to Nefarious with his eyes large and twitching with the fury that filled him. Even though Lawrence was frightened, he didn’t show it. If he was going to go out, he was at least going to do so with some dignity_

_He tried one more time to see if he could manipulate the doctor..._

_“Sir, if you would tone it down for just a second, perhaps-”_

_“I find it hilarious that you’re still trying to talk your way out of this Lawrence, when I_ **_know_ ** _it’s only an act…” The energy flared up again giving out a small, yet volatile laugh. “Of all the years I trusted you, I should have picked up on it sooner. Don’t worry though; it’ll all be over in a sec-”_

_Before he was able to throw another assault, something shocked him from behind. His body froze as the power from his hands died out.  After a few more seconds in this state, Nefarious fell right on his face as Lawrence watched him go down. Swiftly getting back up, he looked at the people by the door, tasers in hand._

_“Oh, thank_ **_goodness_ ** _you’ve arrived. It was getting a bit rowdy around here…” Lawrence brushed whatever dust was on him; looking down at his employer losing consciousness. “My apologies sir, but please understand this is for your own good.”_

_Nefarious looked up at him while his vision grew dimmer and dimmer by the seconds. “I’ll kill you Lawerence…I’ll…kill...”_

_His eyes finally closed as his body shut down…_

* * *

 

_His eyes opened up once again. Nefarious’ sight was still weak, but it was enough for him to see the blur of the heavy robot in his wake. It was Lawrence._

_“Glad to see you awake sir. You took quite a fall back there…”_

_He slowly regained his vision as he looked around the room. “Lawrence, what did you -” He then jumped up after finishing scanning where he was. “Huh, what? Where am I?! What is this place?!”_

_“Equilibrium Mental Institution sir,” he said calmly as he spoke to Nefarious. “I thought it was for your best interest.”_

_“Best interest! What interest?!” He tried to move, but when that failed he looked down at his body – and found out he was in a Carbonox-stitched straitjacket. “Lawrence what is this about?! Why am I here?!”_

_“Oh, you don’t remember?  I recovered your comatose body after Ratchet and Clank defeated you yet again.  I managed to find a secluded place and dutifully patched you right up.  However, you may recall, when you went back online you went a little, shall we say, haywire?  May have left a screw or two loose on my part.  My hands were tied and I was left with no choice but to contact the Institution so they could handle the situation.  I do apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused.  I only had good intentions, sir.”_

_“Well, that seems logi-“  Nefarious paused mid sentence, struck with realization.  “You_ **_dare_ ** _try to manipulate me?  After all_ **_you’ve_ ** _done?!”_

 _  
_ _“I suppose it was naïve of me to hope that fall would have broken your delirium.”  Lawrence let out a sigh, “I suppose there’s no point in trying then.”  He cleared his throat before insisting, “You can’t have forgotten your attempt to kill me, sir, and your sanity has only continued to dwindle after all that had happened.  I thought it was pertinent you be contained to prevent more trouble than you’ve already caused.”_

 _“I had good reason to kill you moron!_ **_Argh!_ ** _I’ve got to get free of this stupid thing.” Still struggling, he tried to use his defenses to break free of the jacket keeping him detained. “That’s odd, my powers aren’t working!”_

 _“They were shut down while you were out, sir. Though, knowing you, it probably wouldn't have done much harm to leave you with them. Perhaps your ‘_ **_ingenuity_ ** _’ could be put to good use figuring out how to use them to get out of there."_

_“You idiot!” Nefarious kept trying to escape from it, but it was no use. His eyes started twitching as his anger turned more into misfortune._

_“Well sir, I should go now. I can’t say here for long. Got a gig and all…”_

_“Wait, what?! You’re just going to leave me here?!” He watched Lawrence as he turned and started to walk out of the room. “Lawrence get back here, now!!”_

_“Happy recovery, sir.” He then walked out, not looking back. Nefarious yelled his name a few more times before the door started to close._

_“Lawrence, come on Lawrence I was only kidding around with you.” He gave out a small chuckle out of guilt. “Lawrence. Lawrence._ **_Lawrence!”_ ** _The door then locked as it shut._

_Nefarious pushed his body over, falling on the side of his face. He started to laugh again like he did before, however it slowly turned into crying. He couldn’t at all believe what was happening, thinking it was all a bad dream that he would soon wake up from. Though, that was nowhere near the case._

_He looked up to the ceiling, full of anger…_

* * *

 

He returned to reality as those memories locked up inside fumed and his eyes twitched with every thought. He was defeated by his nemesis _twice,_ Lawrence betrayed him and he lost everything.

When he gets out of here, _if_ he ever got out of here, the first thing he was going to do was kill everyone who made his life a living nightmare.

Nefarious aimed his pupils from the ceiling down to his jacket giving one more struggle to get loose. Unsurprisingly, no luck.  He sighed as he stared back up; lost in his thoughts. Not much else he could do anyways...

But a few moments later; he perked up. He cracked a sinister smile and tried to push himself to a spot on the wall where there was no padding and started to bang his head against it. 

“Ow.”

He shook it after so many times.

“Well, at least I’ll gain from this after.”

Nefarious continued to slam his head until he was able to get a few wires exposed, and started rubbing them against the padding creating friction. It didn’t take long for a fire to start.

Putting the back of his straitjacket above the flame, it slowly burned the fabric making the stitches looser until they were easy enough to stretch.

“Yes, yes… _victory!!!_

He yelled out with his arms in the air finally having his freedom returned to him. But his celebration quickly ended as the sprinklers went off in the room, raining down on him with his eyes twitching as his mood quickly changing from over-enthusiasm into annoyance…

* * *

 

  “Can’t believe we got one of these ‘mad’ masterminds here,” One of the doctors said to the other, playing a game of chess. “He’s almost as bad as that one we had a few years back.”

 “Who, Ranvier?” The other said as he moved a piece on the board, “Oh yes, he was quite a handful. How did he manage to escape to begin with?”

  “Wasn’t there an explosion in his cell?”

   “It came from the outside didn’t it? Who would even risk breaking out such a nutter?”

   “Well, at least he’s no longer our-”

  The sprinklers started pouring down all over the building as both looked to the ceiling. “What the-”

* * *

 

It still poured in his room, but that wasn’t going to stop Nefarious in attempting to put his weapons back online.

“Okay let’s see, how were they able to disable them in the first place…”

* * *

 

“Ah, so here is where the fire was started.” The doctor spoke to the other as they stared at the screen finding the source of the fire. “Isn’t that where that mad doctor is being held?”

“Yes, I believe so. Should I send someone down there?”

“Please do.”

They called one of the robotic nurses over to Nefarious’ room to check on him, mumbling to himself on the way there.

“They always make me check on the worst ones. Why do they make me check on the worst ones? Does the galaxy hate me or something?” Standing right next to the door to Nefarious’ room he got the key out of his pocket and was about to put it into the lock. “Geez, I can’t get a break, can-”

A big explosion pushed the nurse right out of the way, slamming him into a wall. His eyes wobbled around his sockets trying to regain his sight. “What the-” He then looked through the smoke, seeing a silhouette...

There was Nefarious walking tall, dark matter already coming out of his hands.

“Oh crap! Sound the alarm-” Nefarious threw an attack at the small robot, blowing him up in the progress.  However, the alarms were already set off. The doctor snarled.

“Argh! I was hoping this was going to be a walk in the park…”  

* * *

 

There were personnel deployed all over the building.  Nefarious was trying to be as sneaky as the open routes would allow.  However, as absent as it had been as of late; luck still wasn’t on his side.

“Halt!”

A few of the staff members came across him, each with a taser in hand.

_‘Great…’_

Blocking his way, there was no escape. He thought about using his lasers but he had to remind himself the last time he used force it caused him to be locked up here to begin with. He needed a plan and quick.

He looked around until he saw a young woman nurse passing by behind him unaware of her surroundings.

“Hm?”

Quickly reacting, he took the girl by the arm and head locked her with the same hand he grabbed her with, as his other hand blazed with dark matter.

“Any sudden movement or attack, and I’ll splatter this Squishie’s brains all over the wall!”

The girl started to panic as the mad doctor held her against her will and the personnel lowered their tasers in the fear of either hurting the young girl or invoking their inmate. The last thing they wanted was for something to happen to their employee. “Okay, there is no need for violence; we don’t want to cause any trouble now, all right?”

“Try me. I won’t hold back…” Nefarious scanned the room to think of a better way of getting out of his dilemma without causing any blood to be spilled. His eyes geared over to an aged circuit box.  It had a few wires exposed as sparks flew out due to the water pouring over it. He sorted out the idea in his head but then returned to his distraction.

“Free my way, or I will _kill_ her!”

“Listen, we don’t want to cause any more problems, now why don’t you just put her down-”

Before they could finish their sentence, Nefarious fired his attack upon the circuit box as it went ablaze. A wall of fire formed around the employees struggling to put it out without electrocuting themselves.

Nefarious dropped the girl and as she fell to the floor he saluted her as a sign of thanks. “Thank you Squishie, I’ll make sure you’re the very last killed once I take control of the universe!” He turned around and started to fly down to the floors below as he walked to the exit humming a little tune. Before he left out the door, he slammed his hand on a button at the help desk, causing all the cells in the building to open with his insane friends to cause chaos.

He pushed the exit open still cheerfully humming. He then moved into a more serious tone, looking for a good ship to escape in. After finding the right one, he slammed his fist into one of the windows breaking the glass, slipping in as he tried to hack into the system to get it running. “Never thought I would drive for myself again.”

As soon as it started up, he took off flying into space.

After taking off, he wondered where he could go. He was a wanted criminal after all. Not as though that hadn’t been the case before, but he then he’d had an army and a good supporting team on his side. Now he was a solo act. Perhaps he could try to salvage whatever was left after the explosion of his space station, but it wasn’t a risk worth taking.

He let his gaze drift back to space as he thought of his next course of action.  He needed a plan to rise back to his former glory.  He doubted brainwashing a bunch of squishies would work the third time around.

But first, he thought he would do some -- _cleaning_ around the universe; the first stop being a few friends...

 

* * *

 

Back at the Apogee Space Station; Talwyn, Cronk and Clank were finishing up cleaning after the party they held. Talwyn, now wearing something more casual, put her broom down and wiped the sweat from her face. She leaned her arms on a table; deciding to take a break.

“Hey, Tal.”  Ratchet walked over before leaning next to her.  In an upbeat tone he asked, “How’s everything going?”

  
Talwyn looked over at her friend and smiled.  “Oh, I’m fine.  Figured I should help clean up.  You enjoyed the party, right?”

  
“Of course I did.  You really didn’t need to go out of your way to plan this.  It had to be a lot of work.”

  
“It was, but it’s not like I planned it all myself.  Besides, Clank and I agreed you deserve to have some fun.”  She got back up and grabbed her broom.  “Well, better get back to work.”

“You need any help?” Ratchet replied. “I mean, I’ll pitch in if you’d like but all the brooms are taken, and the last time I tried to clean my room with the Suck Cannon, well…”

“Nah, you’re the birthday boy. Don’t worry, we have everything taken care of.”

“You sure?”

Talwyn chuckled from his insists. “ _Well_ , since you’re so willing,” she shoved the broom into his chest. “You _could_ take over my work.”

“Heh.” He then gave a small laugh himself. “So much for me being the birthday boy and all.” Ratchet got to cleaning while Talwyn walked away over to Cronk without taking her eyes off of the Lombax.

“You know, Ms. Apogee,” Cronk spoke, stopping his work, “I can tell you’ve grown quite fond of him the last two years.”

“We have been through a lot, Cronk.  Couldn’t you say the same for yourself?”

“Well, I remember when I was still a young bot, I met this fine nurse during the Great War. Oh, she was surely something. She was a bombshell, that’s for sure.”

“Ha!” Zephyr budded in to Cronk’s conversation. “Too bad you got bombed with your parts all over the place; otherwise she would have gone out with ya!”

“ _Seriously_ you two?” she sighed. “You know Ratchet and I are just friends. Just because we spent a lot of time together doesn’t mean there has to be anything else going on between us.”

“I suppose, Ms. Apogee. But you do tend to go out of your way for him.  This party, for example.”

“Because he’s my friend Zephyr, and you’ve done the same for me over the years. I don’t see how this is any different.” She eyed both her caretakers before glancing over to Ratchet. “Besides, even if I did; that doesn’t mean he feels the same.”

“So you do have feelings for hi-”

Talwyn waved her hands in protest as she turned red. “No no, I’m saying _if_ I did, which I don’t.”  She sighed and then turned the other way with her back to Zephyr.

“You never know, Ms. Apogee, until you try.”

Talwyn started to become flustered. “Zephyr, please, can we drop this for now. I-” She took in a breath before regaining her composure. “Anyways, we should finish-”

“Ms. Apogee? I think you need to see this!” Cronk was already on the other side of the room listening to the recorded message that was sent to them an hour ago. “It’s from Torren IV.”

Talwyn walked over to him. “What is it, Cronk?”

Ratchet put down his broom and quickly followed after. Cronk played the message, showing a Vullard…

_“Outsiders, the Hollow is being attacked by an unknown faction of troops-”_

The message kept cutting in and out due to the chaos going on behind him, people were running and trying to get the fires hosed down.

_“We are not an aggressive race and we are in need of assistance! We don’t know how long we can hold out for!”_

An explosion in the background caused the camera to shake from the impact causing the camera to cut out again.

_“Please, if there are any Outsiders out there who are willing to help, plea-”_

His words were followed by screams as someone grabbed him by the neck, taking his body off camera.

_“Pathetic creature!”_

The attacker’s voice was heard, but not in view as light hit the walls from the Vullard being electrocuted off screen. He pushed the camera down breaking the lens as static followed. As the recording ended, Ratchet looked over at Clank and he did the same.

“That voice sounds familiar,” Ratchet thought to himself out loud. Still, he had seen enough. He eyed back at Clank. “Gotta love Polaris.  First thing we gotta do when we get here is deal with a whiney Cragmite trying to bring back his race from another dimension.  Then we’ve gotta stop a maniacal doctor from ripping the universe apart on the slim chance he can change the past to his liking.  And now this.”  He let out a sigh, “It’s too much to ask for a break, isn’t it pal?”

“Perhaps,” Clank replied to his friend. “But I suppose it is our job.”

“Well, we better get going.” Ratchet and Clank started to run the other way as Talwyn and the others watched them…

* * *

 

They headed out to where Aphelion was parked and hopped into the cockpit.  “Aphelion, do you still have the coordinates for Torren IV?”

  
“Affirmative.  Is something the matter?”

Before Ratchet could answer he could hear Talwyn calmly calling his name. The Lombax peeked out the window before asking, “What’s wrong, Tal?”

  
“Nothing, just thought you could use an extra hand.”  She approached Aphelion outside the hatch.  “I know you could handle this on your own, but I’d like to tag along, if you don’t mind.”

“We got this Tal, don’t sweat it,” Ratchet reassured.

  
“I’m not worried; I know you guys can take care of yourselves.  It’s just-“ she paused for a second, “you only got back here a few months ago.  And now you’re leaving again…”

“You missed us that much?”

  
Talwyn gave a small, sheepish nod.  “Look, you can always say no if you don’t want me to tag along.”

“Sure, we can always use the extra help.  It’ll be a bit cramped to fit all three of us in Aphelion though.”

  
“Don’t worry.  I can take my ship.  I just need you to send me the coordinates.”

  
“Already sent,” Aphelion chirped.  “They should arrive to your Nav-Unit shortly, Ms. Apogee.

  
“Thanks Aphelion.”  She gave Ratchet a quick nod before heading to her ship.  “I’ll see you there.”

“Alright, we’ll make radio contact once we reach the Vela Sector.”

“Will do.”  Talwyn offered Ratchet a confident smile before making her way to her own ship.  
Ratchet turned his gaze to the horizon as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.  “C’mon Clank, I think it’s time we finally cashed in on that invite.”

Aphelion engaged her thrusts as they took off into space...

  


**-End Chapter Two-**


	3. Chapter Three: Not as Planned

**-Chapter Three: Not As Planned-**

 

They arrived in the Vela Sector not to long ago. Flying to their destination; Clank attempted to contact the Hollow with no luck. He’d tried for the last past half hour.

Ratchet leaned over him. “Any luck, Clank?”

“No, not at all.” Clank tried again, but no reply followed. “I am starting to worry Ratchet; they should have picked up by now.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ratchet took his eyes off Clank and looked back into space keeping his eyes wide open for any signs of danger. “But whatever is happening down there, it can’t be good.”

His mind started to wander again. It had been four months since he last was here.

Since he met General Azimuth...

Never did Ratchet think once of returning to Molonoth Fields, nor had he ever planned to. Perhaps the universe does have a cruel sense of humor after all...

Ratchet thought nothing more about his death, and just having it roll around in his mind didn’t help matters. 

“Azimuth is on your mind again, is he?”

The small voice frightened the lombax. “Huh?!” Getting his mind back together, he looked down to Clank. “Oh, well, no, not really.” He knew trying to hide his emotions was a futile endeavour. Clank, one way or another would see right through him.

Ratchet sighed. “Um, yeah.”

All Clank could do was frown.

A small beeping sound was heard and with a small press of a button or two, the ship’s holoscreen turned on. It was Talwyn.

“Hey, you guys able to get any reply?”

“No luck, you Tal?”

“Still no answer, I’m starting to wonder what’s happening down there.”

“Well, we’ll know soon enough, Aphelion?!”

“Yes, Ratchet?”

“Get a reading of the area to see if there's any abnormal activity...”

“Scanning now…”

* * *

 

On one of the moons in the sector, Nefarious was pondering to himself about his next move as he leaned his back to his ship. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of engines, however.  He narrowed his eyes out into space of the disturbance.

In his peripheral, he spotted both Talwyn’s ship and Aphelion. His calm state turned into anger. He made a fist.

“Ratchet,” he said under his breath as he watched the ships flying to Torren IV. He quickly hopped back into the pilot seat and flew off, following them to the planet…

* * *

 

Aphelion landed her ship next to the entrance of The Hollow with Talwyn parking next to her. They both quickly got out and grabbed their gear.

“You guys ready?”

Both Talwyn and Clank nodded as the little robot jumped onto the Lombax’s back

The door was already wide open with no one guarding it. Not a good sign.

They entered and once inside the first thing that caught their eyes was an unpleasant one...

The place was lifeless, quiet, and whoever was here left a gruesome mess behind. There were motionless bodies strewn all over the ground. Most if not all were still intact, coated in blood and strewn in puddles of it. Equipment was vandalized, if not on fire then burnt to ashes. And the machines that were still standing were riddled with bullet holes...

There was nothing but silence between them. It felt as though they stepped into a horror vid-film. Ratchet took a few steps, bewildered by what was around him.

“Wha-what happened here?”

Clank got off of Ratchet’s back and walked up to one of the Vullard’s corpses. He took his pulse to see if there was any sign of life. He shook his head and turned back over to the others. “Who do you think did this?”

“I don’t know pal…”

Ratchet thought back to that recording they saw before coming here…

_‘Pathetic creature!’_

That voice. It sounded like someone he had encountered when he had travelled the Breegus sector in search of Clank. No, it couldn’t be? Why would he have interest in The Hollow?

“Ratchet?”

“Huh?” He looked over at Talwyn.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, I was just thinking, that’s all.” Ratchet looked around again in an unsure manner before turning back to his friends. “We should search the area, I’m sure there has to be at least one survivor.”

_“Ratchet!!!”_

A screech came from behind him causing Ratchet’s ears to twitch. Yet another voice he hadn’t heard for a while.

He turned right around, shocked to see who it was…

“Nefarious?” Ratchet was stunned to see him still alive. “I thought you were dead?”

“And I almost was, no thanks to you!” He hovered over them high above the ground thanks to his jet boots as he glared Ratchet down; eyes twitching from the anger building up.  

“I guess you were lucky.” Ratchet scanned Nefarious’ body, taking notice of the condition it was in. His wounds were the least of their worries though. What he was doing here in the first place, _now_ that’s a different story.

“I can see you’ve been through some rough times. So where’s Lawrence?” he said sarcastically. “Did he ditch you, or is he out doing your dirty work again?”

“That is none of your business! Besides, I don’t even want to hear that name again. Not after what he, and _you_ , put me though.”

“So, I’m guessing the former?”

Talwyn and Clank looked over at the mad doctor. “Dr. Nefarious? Why did you attack The Hollow? I am sure it is something to do with an evil plan of yours.”

“Say what now?” Confused, he took a good look around before gearing his eyes back to Clank. “I didn’t do this, I just got here!”

“Oh really?!” Ratchet snapped. “We know what you’re capable of Nefarious, there's no reason to hide it!”

“I’m serious! I never even noticed this until your dimwitted friend said something!!”

Ratchet growled at him. In spite of the scene seeming within the realm of Nefarious's capabilities, he seemed to be telling the truth It wasn’t like him to act like nothing happened, or for him to cover up his evil deeds for that matter. He had way too much pride in his _work_ for him to be ashamed of it.  

Besides, Nefarious’s method of killing was _cleaner_ than outright beating his victim to a bloody pulp and leaving the resulting mess out in the open It at least would be left somewhat spotless.

However, that left another question. If Nefarious didn’t do this, then what suspect was left?

“So maybe this isn’t your handiwork. But who else could have done this?”

“And you think _I_ know?!” He could argue with him about it all day, but that would just be a distraction. Something Nefarious did not have time for right now. “I wish _I did_ kill you back at my station, but I’ll make sure I do now.” His eyes twitched and his voice became louder preparing to throw an attack.  “For making my life a living-”

Before anything else could come out of Nefarious’ mouth, everyone was thrown to the ground from the impact of an exposition that came to them off guard. It was a powerful one too. Its radius spanning so far it totaled the pre-existing damage to the area.

Ratchet slowly got up and he followed to help his friends immediately after..

Nefarious was still laying on the ground as he mumbled to himself, annoyed that he was interrupted from killing his arch-nemesis. He shifted his eyes the other way; seeing a shadow in the flames that the assault caused. He knew right away who it was just from looking at his silhouette, not at all pleased to see him again after working with him for so long...

“Ratchet…”

That deep voice made the lombax’s ears jump as a shiver went down his spine. The accent sounded just like the one he heard on the holo-recording before they came here. He then turned around, eyes widened from the shock of seeing his old _friend_.

“…Once again you fall into my raid.” Vorselon walked out of the flames with his armor unscratched, hands behind his back as he gave a small smile; greeting his enemy. “Been a long time, hasn’t?”

“Vorselon,” Ratchet gave him a fuming glare. “I knew that voice was familiar.”

Clank turned a perplexed stare onto Vorselon before looking back at Ratchet. “Did he not challenge you after we left the Clock?”

"Yeah, but I wanted to catch up with Talwyn. Thinking twice about that decision now."

“What’s the matter, young lombax? Aren’t you _thrilled_ to see your old friend: Lord Vorselon?” He followed his sentence with a small laugh, grinning.

“ _Argh_ , Vorselon!” Nefarious slowly got up, infuriated as he screamed at the Terraklon who had broken up his encounter. “Stay out of this! I was here first, so why don’t you get lost so I can finish the-”

The mercenary charged his palm and released a ball of dark matter onto Nefarious, causing him to go flying into a wall. It didn’t take too long to get up and crawl right out, as he rubbed his head while his right eye rolled around in its socket, dizzy.

“Ow.”

The power from Vorselon’s hand slowly died out as his teeth grinded with irritation.

“ _Obnoxious_ piece of tin! I am no longer your under your employ, so I will not hesitate to _kill you if I must_!!”

Now that _he_ was out of the way Vorselon composed himself as he turned back over to Ratchet. He cleared his voice as he let the robot fall to the back of his mind. “Now, where was I? _Ah_ yes.” An evil smirk graced the mercenary’s face once again as he slithered around the Lombax. Both their eyes locked in angry sneers.

"I was patiently awaiting your arrival at my ship all those months ago.  You couldn't imagine how disappointed I was that you declined my invitation.  And without so much as _an_ RSVP to inform me you wouldn't come."

“I can hardly say that ‘Father’s Accountant’ thing was very enticing. In hindsight maybe I should have come.This wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”

“Maybe so lombax, but let’s not get off track here. I-”

“Damn it, you moron!” Nefarious yelled once more as he stumbled to his feet, “Stop interfering! He caused more trouble for _me_ , so move your-”

 _“Silence!!”_ Vorselon shocked him with the electricity coming from his hand, knocking Nefarious back down. The robot did nothing but mumble in anger.

Clank stared up at Vorselon. “Lord Vorselon, why did you attack the Hollow? There is no reason for you to kill so many innocent Vullards! Unless someone has hired you...?”

“That isn’t anything that concerns you, small one, because you will not live long enough to know such a thing! Once I am finished with you and all.”

Ratchet just rolled his eyes as he growled, “We have no time for this, Vorselon!”

“Oh, is that so?” He aimed his eye over to Talwyn, then back to Ratchet. “We’ll see about that.” He _poofed_ away and teleported over to her.The next thing she knew she was braced against the wall; trapped by an electric barrier that covered her from head to toe. It happened so fast she didn’t even have time to fight back.

Vorselon started up a pulse from his hand as he held it in front of Talwyn’s face.

“Maybe if I take this girl’s head, you will reconsider?”

“Talwyn!” Ratchet shouted. He started to snarl as he gave Vorselon a fierce look. “Let. Her. Go! She didn’t do anything to you!”

“Well maybe if you fight me, I’ll reconsider it.” His pulse grew stronger as he grabbed her chin with his other hand. “She does mean something to you, doesn’t she? It would be a -- _shame_ to end her life in such a way..” He laughed softly as he looked back at his furry friend.

Talwyn struggled to get loose with little luck. “Get your hands off of me cyclops or-!”  

"Or what? I have no qualm with you, but continue to persist and I'll ensure you join your friend. Do you think it's really worth that fate?"

“Vorselon,” Ratchet whispered his name, his hand tightening into a fist. “Fine, if it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get.” He raised his wrench up in the air, preparing for battle.

The mercenary let go of Talwyn and let the power of his hand die out as he walked over to Ratchet. “ _Now,_ that’s more like it.” With a snap of a finger, he released Talwyn and she fell to the ground before he returned his sight to his foe. "Allow me to inform you that my new suit is far more powerful than my last! It has been constructed with the most advanced technology and most resilient defense systems in existence! You should be honoured to be among the first to test it out, not to mention how glad I am to get to use a space rat like you as my guinea pig." Excitement caused his head to wriggle in its tank as dark matter powered up again in both of his hands. "Prepare for terror unlike any you have ever known!!"  
  
Ratchet and Clank stood side by side, both with raised eyebrows, as the enemy encroached.  Clank looked especially confused as he asked, "Is he always this dramatic?”  
  
"Yeah, it's kinda his schtick." His gaze left his friend’s and was aimed back at Vorselon. “Ok Vorselon, lets finish this once and for-”

He threw a huge ball of matter at them before Ratchet could even finish, causing Clank and him to jump out of the way in opposite directions.. After the leap, they both looked at each other, and back at Vorselon.

“Well, that’s, um, new…”

“I see you like it so far.”  As the hand powered back up, he threw another assault on his targets.  Ratchet barely got back up before noticing the projectile coming at him.

“Uh-oh.” Ratchet quickly rolled out of the way as he took out his Constructo Pistol, trying to aim it at his foe.

Vorselon used a holographic shield to block Ratchet’s attack, as it deflected off of it. “Is that all you got?” He let out a laugh as the bullets started to fly back over to the lombax.

Ratchet once again hurdled out of the way from the unexpected attack dropping his gun in the progress.

“Crap.”

He hid behind a wall and tried to plan a way to get back on the offensive but he couldn’t find an opening.

“How did he get this upgrade?”

Vorselon slammed his hand onto the ground below him, causing a huge shockwave. A crack began to form and trailed to the lombax. Ratchet tried to hold his balance but the impact overpowered him.

“Ratchet, be careful!” Talwyn shouted. She looked over at Vorselon, as he let the power from his hands die down.

The merc took notice of his foe’s legs stuck in the cracks, causing the lombax to struggle to get back up. ‘ _The perfect time to finish the job.’_

“You seem to be having a bit of trouble there, lombax.” Vorselon slithered to his enemy as he grabbed him by the neck. “Here, let me help you!”

Ratchet tired to gasp for air from his enemy’s clutch as he just watched Vorselon power up his hand again. His foe cracked an evil smirk. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this day!”

Nefarious was already back on foot, running as he formed a fist. “Oh no _you_ don’t! I’m the one who’s going to kill him!” Before he could swing at him, the Terraklon took notice, hearing his voice at the last second.

“What do you want no- oh cra-!”

The mad robot hit the light in the center of Vorselon’s suit. The mercenary lost his grip on Ratchet and clawed frantically at the light.  He stumbled backward, unbalancing Nefarious and causing the robot to fall flat on his face.  He eyed his suit helplessly as sparks sprayed out from the damage. It didn’t take long for everything to start going haywire. Vorselon struggled to retain control of his mechanical body as it spasmed violently out of his control.

“You piece of junk, look at what you’ve done!!”

A spark then shot up into the air, causing a huge greenish wormhole to appear. Vorselon’s eye widened. The wind tried to pull him in as he attempted to resist.

Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn looked up at the portal. “What is that thing?!” the lombax shouted, covering his face with his arm from the airstream.

Failing to hold back, Vorselon was pulled in. “This is far from over, lombax!!”

The wormhole was tugging on the others, trying to pull them in to follow after the mercenary. Ratchet quickly grabbed Talwyn’s hand and insisted, “Everyone hold hands! We don’t want to be separated if we fall into that thing!” Talwyn followed Ratchet’s instructions and reached out to grab Clank. The tiny robot clung to a pole to fight the wormhole’s pull.

Nefarious had his arms and legs wrapped tightly against a pole as he glared nervously at the portal. The wind was no match for him!.. despite his legs’ grip loosening. His arms followed suit but he dug his fingers into the post, anchoring him before he could be sucked away. Suddenly the force grew stronger and his hands were ripped away from the post as he was pulled towards the wormhole. He let out a high pitched shriek as he was helplessly pulled inside.

The others just watched Nefarious being pulled in as they tried hard enough to not suffer the same fate. But Clank’s hand slipped and everyone yelled as they entered the vortex…

* * *

 

They all kept their grip on each other; trying not to let go.

“Hold on,” Ratchet yelled, “We can’t risk getting separated!”

Ratchet’s hand was starting to slip from Talwyn’s.

“Ratchet, I don’t know how much longer I can hold on!”

The current was too strong, forcing Ratchet to let go; losing the team as he screamed out their names.

 _“Ratchet!!!”_ Clank shouted after seeing his friend being blown off course. There was then a black hole at the end of the tunnel, going through…

* * *

 

As the channel ended, Ratchet fell out with a yelp landing on the ground below him...

“Oof.”

He rubbed his head as he slowly got up before picking up his wrench. He found himself to be on a beach. The sand was a dark red but the ocean a light blue so clear that he could see tiny fish swim by.

“Where am I?”

He scratched his head in confusion, wondering what that _thing_ he’d just traveled through could have possibly been.

“Clank, Talwyn?!”

The Lombax yelled out their names hoping for a response. After a few moments he shouted out again. With no reply and a good look around, he knew they weren’t anywhere nearby.

“Just great…”

Ratchet then heard some mumbling behind him.

“Augh, I got sand in my gears.”

Ratchet turned around, raising an eyebrow.

There was Nefarious, banging his head as he tried to get rid of the sand that plagued him when he fell down himself. After getting most of it out though the crack in his canister, he turned his head, still annoyed, and there he saw the Lombax a few feet away from him. He gave him a long but odd stare, yet after a few blinks he finally figured out who it was...

“ _You_ ,” Nefarious swiftly got up and ran as he yelled pointing his finger at the direction of the Lombax. “ _This_ is _your_ fault!!”

Ratchet stared up at Nefarious, with one of his ears hanging down and the other raised up. “My fault? Hey, you’re the one that caused Vorselon’s suit to go haywire!”

“Well, _if you_ didn’t come to the Hollow, none of this would have happened!”

“Hey, you’re the one that followed us, so it’s your fault!”

“No, it’s yours!”

“No, it’s yours!”

“No! You caused all of this!”

“No Nefarious, you-” After pausing, Ratchet shook his head noticing how childish this argument was as he palmed his face. “Why am I even arguing with you? Listen; there is no point in blaming each other right now. You see where we are, right?”

“We _don’t_ even know where we are, you moron!” Nefarious tired to hold in his anger, which was not an easy task.  Failing to control his emotions, he just lifted his arms into the air over Ratchet. “I can’t believe this!”  And popped right out was his right arm landing on the sand below him. One of Nefarious’ opticals got smaller, while the other was bigger as he looked down.. Ratchet couldn’t help but let out a small snicker.

“Stop laughing! This is _not_ funny!” Nefarious glared Ratchet down and then back to his arm.  He mumbled to himself as he picked it back up, trying to get it back in his socket. It went back in, until it fell out again. He picked it up once more, but it kept falling out. His anger got the best of him as he started to force it in violently. “Get in, damn it!” After a good few tries, he finally got it in place. He moved his arm up and down to make sure everything was in order.

“That’s better.”

He rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms.

After he finished laughing, Ratchet looked back up to Nefarious as he sighed. “Well, as much as I hate to say it, we’re going to need to help each other out.”

“Come again?” Nefarious raised an eyebrow at his arch-nemesis. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Sadly, not. Wish I was. We’ve got to figure out where we are, and I have to find my friends. Trust me Nefarious; the last thing I want is to be stuck with you.”

“I was hoping you were.” Nefarious waved his hands with a small laugh. “There is no way, and I mean, _no way_ , I am going to work alongside _you_!” He started to walk in the opposite direction as Ratchet watched him leave...

“Where are you going?”

“Away from you, I don’t want to be around a _Squishie_ like yourself.” He continued to stride, not bothering to give the Lombax a look.

“You wouldn’t last one day out here,” Ratchet yelled mockingly across the beach. “You always had Lawrence around catering to you; How do you expect to have any luck surviving on your own!”

“Pff, I can take care of myself!”

“Right, we’ll see about that.”

  Nefarious mumbled as he entered a jungle. Ratchet watched him leave before turning the other way.

“He’ll be back …”

* * *

 

As the mad robot strolled through the tropical forest, he started to rant angrily to himself. 

“I can’t believe this. I’m stuck on a planet, not knowing where _I_ am and now I’m stranded here. This day can’t get any wor-”

His arm popped out of place once again, earning itself a frustrated glare and a twitching left eye. He rolled his eyes in disgust.

“Just my luck.”

Before he was able to pick it up, a small wolf-like creature got to it first holding it within his mouth as it wagged it’s tail before turning back around.

“ _Argh_ ,” Nefarious marched up to the animal as he made a fist. “Give. That. Back!” He held his hand out, waving it as he asked. The dog shook its head as he continued to chew on his arm.

“Give me that, you stupid Squishie!” He took the hand of his arm, trying to pull it out of its month. After struggling for a while, he forced it out, causing him to be pushed to the soil. He got back up as the wolf glared at him.

“Brainless organic.” He kicked it out of the way as it whimpered. It got back up and glared back to Nefarious, growling before running off.

“ _That’s_ right! Run away!!” He followed up his yell with a laugh, putting his arm back in its socket. “One point for the robots, zero for the Squishies.” Walking again, he cheerfully closed his eyes, humming, arms behind his back. However his jolly mood was interrupted after hearing a snarl.

“Huh?” He opened his eyes and saw that there was a bigger creature beside the little one. His pupils constricted. “Umm, didn’t think it had a mother.”  He looked around frightened before looking  back with a small nervous chuckle. “Is it too late to say I’m sorry?”

Saliva flew into the robot’s face as it roared. Nefarious looked back with a twitch of fear coming from one of his eyes. It wasn’t too long until he ran back to the beach screaming as the two wolves watched him...

\--

Ratchet was still strolling down the beach when he heard a shriek behind him. He turned around with Nefarious colliding into him as he ran, causing them to both fall onto the sand. The lombax shook his head, and there was Nefarious who was now on top of him.

Ratchet, not amused, just rolled his eyes from the robot. “For some reason, I knew you would be running back.”

Nefarious’s eyes twitched, refusing to look at him. “Shut up.” They both got up, with Nefarious pushing the sand off of him, as Ratchet did the same for himself.

“Well, I guess we should get going. C’mon rust bucket.” He waved his hand, telling him to stay close as Nefarious followed crossing his arms and mumbling to himself...

* * *

 

Talwyn opened her eyes. Her sight was still dim but enough to see the world around her. The first things that caught her eye were the lush plants of the jungle; with the sun breaking through the leafs. She slowly got herself back on her feet and called out her friends’ names. 

She scanned the area, worried.

_‘No response at all.’_

She then spotted Clank lying on the earth.

“Clank!” She ran up to him and gave him a light shake after noticing his optics closed, hoping he was still functional. “Clank, are you alright?!”

Clank opened his eyes after hearing his name before looking up to the young girl. “Yes, I am fine Talwyn.” The small robot got up as he noticed his surroundings. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know Clank. We’ll figure that out later though. Did you see Ratchet?”

“No, I did not see him ever since we landed here; but I am sure Ratchet is fine even though I am just as worried.”  They both looked up to the sky, and saw the sun setting below them.

“Yeah but right now we should set up camp. It’ll be dark soon.

“I agree.” Clank thought about the other two who went through the portal. “We should also keep a lookout for Doctor Nefarious and Lord Vorselon. If they went through the wormhole as well, they could not be very far.”

“Right.” Talwyn took one last look around before turning back to her robot companion. “Anyways, I’ll go get some firewood.First thing in the morning though; we’ve gotta search for Ratchet. It’d probably be a good idea to try and figure out where we are too. I doubt he’s that far...”

_‘Just stay safe Ratchet…’_

* * *

 

 It was already dusk, Ratchet still had no luck finding the others. It was hard to make out their settings as it was due to the darkness, but the path was bright enough for the time being. Nefarious kept on following until he heard a squish sound below him. He looked down, and saw his feet covered in mud.

“ _Ew_ , ew, get it off!” Nefarious swiftly picked a leaf off its branch and tried to get the mud off with Ratchet doing nothing but rolling his eyes. “This is why I always hated biology.” Mumbling, he turned back over to the lombax who was now laughing at his behavior. “Stop laughing!”

Ratchet shook his head. “This is why I said earlier you wouldn’t last a day out here.” He started to move again as he  watched Nefarious getting the remains of the muck cleaned off.  However, he lost his balance falling straight into the mud.

Ratchet cracked up again. He couldn’t help but find amusement in Nefarious’s antics. It was a rare sight to see the Doctor so vulnerable. For all his intelligence and talents; he was lost without Lawrence or anyone else who catered to his needs whether Nefarious saw that or not.

But for some odd reason, he felt a bit bad for the guy. Seeing him like this was kinda sad when he thought about it; ya know, being a feared supervillain. Though he didn’t feel _that_ bad…

_‘When am I going to get rid of this guy?’_

Nefarious was still trying to get the rest of the mud off until he spotted Ratchet moving away. “Hey, don’t leave me here!”

“Well, you better hurry up then.” Ratchet smiled with a small chuckle. Once the doctor fully got up, he slipped back into the sludge once again as he was raging deep inside himself...

* * *

 

A few hours later; the sun set for good and there was no longer a viable path. Nefarious sat down on a rock still covered in mud mumbling angrily to himself. Ratchet was trying to get a fire started and finally had success. He picked up a long stick beside him and put it over the flame, lighting the way. “There, that should do it.”

“I hope we find your friends soon. That way, we can go our own ways again.” Nefarious didn’t even bother to look at him as he spoke.

“Heh, well can’t say I disagree. I’d have ditched you earlier but you came running back like a coward before I got the chance.”

The robot just eyed him weirdly. “I can take care of myself.”

“Oh yeah,” The lombax said bluntly. “That’s why you came screaming out of the jungle after being chased by whatever animal you pissed off.”

“He took my arm! What was I supposed to do?!”      

“I think you could have lived without it.”

 Nefarious snarled at the comment, trying to hold in his irritation. “If it wasn’t for my own survival, I would have torn those ears off that stupid head of yours.”

  “That sounds pretty dark, don’t ya think?”      

“Maybe it’ll teach you some respect.”    

 Ratchet got up and started moving. “If you plan on staying with me, you better get your servos running. I’m not waiting on you.”

Nefarious followed. After a few steps, Ratchet heard a sound coming from the bushes. He shook his head not thinking  much of it. He started to walk again, until he heard the same noise this time causing his ears to pop up.

  “Nefarious, did you hear that?” He asked, not looking at him while he posed the question.

  Nefarious just rolled his eyes as he gave him a cynical tone. “No, I _didn’t_ hear anything.”

  “Well, ok then.” Both of them started to walk, but paused again after hearing it again. “Are you sure you didn’t hear that?”

  “If it makes you feel better, I think I may have heard something.”               

“Well, what did it sound like?”

 “Something coming from the bushes, is that what you heard?”          

“Yeah, something along those lines,” As Ratchet and Nefarious turned around to face one another, they heard it again but louder. Moving closer to each other, Ratchet took out his wrench, on the defense. Nefarious started to shiver a bit, hiding behind the lombax for protection.

Then it stopped. Ratchet let his guard down with Nefarious still hiding behind him. “Well, I guess it wasn’t anything baaaAH-” A bunch of lion like creatures came jumping out, with both of them yelling when taken by surprise.

“Oh crap!” Ratchet quickly hit one with his wrench hoping it was enough for it to go away. One of them leaped on top of him, causing him to lose hold of the flame as it rolled over into a puddle of water; washing the fire out.

Nefarious kicked a few of them, hoping they would be scared as well. “Get away you dim-witted Squishies!” A bunch of them piled up on him as he tried to get them off, landing him on the soil.

Ratchet whacked a few more, but unexpectedly, one of them scratched his face, leaving a small cut on his left cheek. “Damn it!”

More of them started to gang up on them. Nervously, he turned over to the robot. “Um, how are you holding out?”

He screamed out to Ratchet while still fighting them off. “What does it look like, you twit?!!” He hit another with his arm.

Butterflies started to build up in Ratchet's stomach as more arrived. As they were about to pounce...

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

The shots terrified them as they started to back off before finally running away. Both Ratchet and Nefarious looked over to where they heard the gunfire.

“Wow. That was lucky.”

A flashlight was aimed in Ratchet’s face as he covered his eyes from the bright glow. Walking out of the scrubs was a young girl with light tan fur and four darker tanned stripes on her face, two on each side. Her appearance gave off of an wolf and cat hybrid.

After pushing her brown hair out of the way, she put her firearm back in her pouch and then laid her now free hand on the side of her hip.

“Y’all know you shouldn’t be out here in the middle of the night.” She said in her slight southern sounding accent. “You’re lucky I got here in time, otherwise you’d have been supper.” She then glared at the lombax with her grayish blue eyes.

“You don’t seem like you’re from around here, am I right?”

Ratchet looked back at Nefarious still getting up before turning back at the girl. “We aren’t. We don’t even know where we are, we just… landed here.”

“This has been one heck of a day.” Nefarious was busy brushing the dirt off his body that he didn’t even look over to the others as he spoke, “Didn’t think I would have been saved by _two_ Squishies, neither.”

“ _Squishies?_ ” She remarked at the funny sounding word before finally taking notice of Nefarious. Her eyes widen from the sight of him...

The doctor then looked over at her, puzzled at her expression. “What?”

The young girl started to walk in circles around him, which did nothing but make Nefarious more or less creeped out. So much it took good restraint to not attack her.  “Um, Ratchet, can you tell your new friend to stop being creepy…”

She finished her scan and backed away a few steps. After a few blinks, she finally broke her silence...

“Oh. my. gosh,” She yelled, full of glee. “This is so cool!”

After her response, both Nefarious and Ratchet looked at each other, perplexed by what was going on…

* * *

 

The young girl invited them back to her place for shelter, which Ratchet gladly accepted. Nefarious however...

“ _Oh my gosh_ , oh my gosh!” The girl walked around the robot, grabbing his left hand. “I’ve never seen an android this advanced before! This AI, this kind of model, this is amazing!”

Nefarious’s eye twitched from this girl’s pestering and he turned over to Ratchet sitting on the couch, cracking up in amusement with the robot being examined.

“What’s so funny, long ears?”

Ratchet then looked back over at Nefarious, still amused. “Oh, nothing Nefarious.”

The robot looked back at the girl, still examining his body. He finally had enough…

Nefarious hands just fumed of dark matter, taking the girl by surprise as she took a huge leap back. “That’s it, I’m done playing the passive role here!! Touch me again and I-!!”

The lombax then got serious as he jumped off the couch. “Tone it down Nefarious!”

“Tone _it_ down?! _This_ Squishie has been examining me like a lab rat for the last past hour and you’re telling _me_ to tone it down?!!”

“Yeah, and you made your point; but if you lay a single hand on her Nefarious; you’ll have more than her to worry about, trust me!!”

Nefarious’s eye twitched, but he complied and let the power from his hands die out. “Fine, but I have very little patience, just so the both of you know.” Nefarious stomped across the room.

The girl still hadn’t gotten over the fact that this weird robot almost killed her but she tried her best to get back to her senses. “I-I’m sorry. I got a little carried away there I guess. I’ve just never seen anything like you before.”

Nefarious didn’t bother to reply other than waving the comment off not thinking anything of it.

The girl finally got herself together before looking over to Ratchet, seeing the slash on his face. “Oh, let me get you patch for that,” She walked over to a drawer and took out a small first aid kit and started digging for what she was looking for.. “ _So_ , I never got your name?”

“I’m Ratchet, and that cheap machine over there is Nefarious.” Nefarious briefly glared at him from that remark but then went back to mumbling.

She let out a small laugh. “Ah. Well, my name is Jens.” She finally found the size band-aid needed and closed the box. “Nice to meet you.” Jens walked back over to the lombax, handing him the patch. “I hope that helps.”

“Yeah, it’ll do fine.” Ratchet took the patch, looking back at Jens while putting it on. “Also thanks for the rescue. we needed the help.”

Jens put on a small smile, “My pleasure.” She then looked back over to  Nefarious, tapping his feet while not looking at the others. “So, he yours?”

“You can say that.”

“And Is he always like this?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Heh.” She walked up to him, tapping him with her elbow, well aware she was playing with fire. “C’mon Nef, cheer up. Why do you always hate all the time? Put that frown upside down!”

Nefarious’ eyes once again twitched as he got up, snarling.

“Look here you Squishie little brat, I’m having a bad day as it is!” Jens smile turned into a frown as he yelled.

“I’m stuck here with my arch-nemesis who knows where, which we may not get home at this rate, _and_ I would have annihilated him by now if it wasn’t for my own survival! And now, I have to deal with the likes of a ‘little miss robot molester’ here who _should_ be lucky _I_ haven’t killed her by now if it wasn’t for him over there,” He tilted his head pointing to Ratchet, “So pray you stay on my good side since the last thing you want is to become a Squishie carcass...”

“Trust me pal, no one wants to hang out with you neither,” Ratchet added.

Jens pouted while looking over to Ratchet. “Well, someone has a gear up his-”

“GAH, you annoying unplea-” And a _zap_ later...

_“Next up is Orion Gasto coming to bat. He takes the swing. Strike one!”_

Jens stared at Nefarious as she watched his gears moving stationary in one place. “Heh, I missed this game…”

Ratchet eyed him. “That’s… weird. That’s not what usually comes out of him in this state.”

_“Strike two! The pitcher throws the ball and-HOLY COW LOOK AT THAT BALL GO!!”_

Ratchet shook his head as he walked up to the robot, palm in face and full of disbelief. “I can’t believe I’m going to be stuck with this guy,” He whispered to himself before raising his hand above him…

_“And it’s going, going and GONE! IT’S A HOME RUN!!-”_

A hard whack later, Nefarious went back to functioning correctly…

“-sant child!!” Even with no lungs, he was breathing heavy and his hands made a gripping motion in the thought of strangling her. “You sure I’m not allowed to kill her?!”

“I’m sure Nefarious.”

“ _ARG!_ ” He stomped off again in frustration.

Jens forced herself to smile. “Don’t be so angry all the time Nef, it’s bad for your health.” Jens  leaned over to Ratchet. “Didn’t tell me he doubled as a radio.”

Nefarious glanced at her weirdly, not knowing what she was talking about. “What do you mean?”

“...wait, so you have no clue that…?”

“No clue about what?!”

Ratchet sighed before giving Nefarious a small pat on the back. “A glitch you had since--whenever you had it. You freeze up all the time and play radio singles.” The lombax walked over to the couch, jumping back on it. “Your butler often had to smack you in the head to get you working again.”

Nefarious remained still for a second or two.

“ _I had_ a glitch all this _time_ ?!” He put his hands on his head. “Why _does_ no one tell me these things?!”

“Probably because Lawrence got amusement out of it.”

“We don’t speak about him, _you_ got that?!” As his eyes shuddered a bit, his arm fell out again, and he glared down at it. He rolled his eyes and picked it up, trying to get it back into his socket.

Jens saw he was struggling and ran up to him. “I’ll fix that!” Taking out a roll of duct tape from her pocket, she wrapped it around his arm attempting to connect it to his body not taking into account the fact that the roll was still dangling down…

“There ya go.” She gave him a cheesy smile.

Nefarious glared at his “repaired” arm, and then back at her.

“I just only met you, and I’m already starting to _hate_ you.”

“You mean you didn’t already?.” After her blunt remark, looked over at the clock and stretched out her arms with a yawn. “Well guys, I’m going to hit the hay. You could crash here for the night if you want, not that you have anywhere to go at the moment.”

Ratchet gave a nod, “Thanks Jens.”        

Jens pointed to a small room. “You guys can both use that little bedroom. Used to be my father’s.” She shrugged.  “I don’t have any other room to keep you guys from each other but I guess one of you could sleep on the couch.” Her finger pointed to Nefarious, “Unless he doesn’t sleep?”

“Most likely won’t with both of you here. For all I know I’ll wake up with missing parts.”

Jens let out a light chuckle as she walked over to her room.  “Just do me one favor, try not to kill each other. I gather you two don’t have the best relationship.”

 

"Aren't worried that he'll get you killed or something?" Ratchet asked with a finger jabbed in Nefarious's direction.

“He seems to know the ground rules. Anyways, g’night..”

 And she left, leaving the two alone in the seating area. “Dibs on the bed by the way…”

* * *

 Vorselon opened his eye half way slowly, lying on the sand near the ocean. He tried getting up, but his tentacles weren’t working properly, likely due to the damage caused to it back at the Hollow. They still functioned enough to get his other half off the soil at least.

He touched the top of his tank and looked up, seeing a crack coming from the top reaching down to eye level. The ectowater inside keeping him alive had a murky green tone as well and he was unaware of the source. The rest of his mechanical body still had sparks spraying out and whatever damage that he remembered gaining.  He growled in anger. “Worthless piece of scrap metal…”   He remembered Nefarious damaging his suit and ruining his mission, as well as his chances of killing that ‘ _wretched space rat_ ’ he hated so much.

Catching his eyeball was green blood drooling from the side of his mouth, causing his eye to widen from it. “Damn it…”

He crawled away from the water onto the dry sand, dialing a few buttons on the back on his left hand. Putting his palm face up, a hologram of a woman popped up.

“Empress Lania.”

She looked over at Vorselon, not amused. “What is it now, Flint?” Lania rolled her eyes before taking notice of the shape of his body. “And what happened to you?”

He kneeled down respectfully, discarding her question about the damage. “My lady, I’m sorry to inform you, but the mission didn’t, well, go as planned.”

Just staring into her eyes,  he could see the rage build up. “What do _you_ mean it didn’t go as planned?”

He looked back at her nervously, not wanting to tell her the bad news. “Let’s just say there was some…well, _interference_.”

“What do you _mean_ by interference?!!” She yelled at him at top of her lungs.  “What did you screw up this time, Flint?!”

“W-well,” Vorselon shivered in fear, knowing how she was when in this state. “Th-there were some old friends of mine that came to The Hollow. I did- didn’t expect them there, and they caused my suit to go haywire, a-and-”

“I’m guessing by old friends, you’re referring  some people that caused you problems in the past.”

“Well, yes.” He played with his fingers while speaking to her with a small smile, feeling worried what she was going to say next. “And, well, I’m now stuck in another dimension, and-”

“What do _you_ mean by that?!” She screamed even louder than before. “Augh, can you do anything right?!”  She started to relax, taking deep breaths. “Well, are they stuck in this dimension you are now trapped in?”

“I would assume so.”

“Then kill them.”

Vorselon started to look around; knowing he most likely won’t have the capability for the task. “B-but my lady, my suit is badly damaged. I don’t think I will be able to-”

“Don’t give me that Flint! You put yourself in this mess; you will have to fix your mess!” She composed herself again, now giving him an intimate tone. “Besides sweetie, you don’t want me to leave you all alone on that beach, now do you?”

Vorselon shook his head, giving a puppy-dog eye pout as he whimpered “No…”

“Good. Then do what I say, and don’t call back until you do so! Lania out!”

 As the hologram shut down, Vorselon sat in silence. “Yes, my lady.” He snarled with the anger that filled him, slamming his fists down on the soil.

“When I find them, I will make sure I kill that wretched space rat, _and_ that filthy robot, nice, slowly and _painfully._ ” Flint then laughed,  lightly grinning, finding himself delight in the idea of doing so…

 

**-End Chapter Three-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok got all the chapters online and each chapter will have a monthly/bi-monthly schedule.  
> Anyways, thanks for reading and feedback would be awesome.


	4. Chapter Four: Bros Before Foes

**-Chapter Four: Bros Before Foes-**

            _Tick, tock, tick, tock…_  

Every second the sound of the clock would go off as the Lombax and the mad robot stared eachother down from across the room. Ratchet was sitting on the couch while Nefarious sat on the floor and neither of them spoke a word, or made a sound for that matter. Neither of them enjoyed the fact they were stuck together for however long it would be. And by this rate, it was going to be a while…

            … _Tick, Tock, tick, tock…_

Ratchet remained calm.  Not an easy task with your arch-nemesis glaring into your eyes.

Nefarious, however, didn’t take it as well.He started to twitch from the silence of the room. Just looking at the rat he loathed so much caused thoughts of stepping on the Squishies head or ripping his tail off to roll around in his mind. Every second, those ideas made him lose more and more of his sanity (whatever he had left anyways).

            … _Tick, tock, tick, tock…_

Both looked around the room, trying to resist eye contact, however nothing seemed to distract them in the space they shared.

With another stare, Nefarious finally snapped. “I _can’t_ take this anymore!!” he yelled as he ran over to Ratchet.

“Can’t say I like this either,” Ratchet kept his composure despite a tinge of frustration in his tone. “But if you haven’t hit Vorselon’s suit the way you did, we wouldn’t be stuck here in the first place.”

“ _Oh,_ don’t blame this on me, fuzzball! This is partially your fault too!”

“How so? I wasn’t the one that threw a hissy fit!”

“Shut up! This is your fault and you know it! Not to mention you would have been fried Lombax if I hadn't done so!”

“And this is coming from someone who can’t even defend himself out in the wild…”

As they argued with each other Jens stumbled into the room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Their bellowing had brought her into the room to try and resolve the argument. Or at least bring it down to a less audible level.

“I’m fully capable of taking care of myself, long ears!” Nefarious’s eye twitched as his hand balled into a fist. He was struggling to hold back his anger.

“Oh, sure you are. When _I’m_ there to save your butt!”

 _“Gah!!”_ Dark matter raged out from his hand and he launched it directly at the vase across the room, shattering it. It didn’t take long for them to both take notice.

“Nice going…”

Before the robot could build up more, Jens quickly ran over, pushing both of them away. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, I understand you guys hate each other for whatever reason it may be, but please,” She sighed. “Don’t blow up my house, thank you very much.”

Ratchet and Nefarious exchanged evil glares. Ratchet’s gaze softened as he shifted it over to Jens. “Sorry if we’re being a chore,” Ratchet apologized.

“I personally wouldn’ say chore, but if the bill fits.”  She walked over to the small kitchen and plucked a fruit from the bowl.  “Here, catch!”  She threw the produce at Ratchet and he deftly caught it. She took another fruit for herself and bit into it. “So, you guys are lookin’ for your friends, right?” she said through a mouthful of food.

“ _His_ friends, not mine!” Nefarious walked over to the couch and sat down, tapping his foot, arms crossed.

“Why so moody this mornin’?” Jens inquired, shoving her face into Nefarious’s. “Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?”

The doctor let out growl as he turned away from Jens and her obnoxious chewing. He couldn't stand the fact these squishies were not only invading his space with their presence but insisted on insulting him while they did it.

“How did this happen? How did I, Dr. Nefarious, the greatest criminal mastermind in the _entire_ universe, hit rock bottom? I was the one who struck fear to those in the Solana _and_ Polaris galaxies! The one who was on the brink of controlling _time_ _itself_!! And now-” his arm fell off, as he face palmed with the opposite hand. “…I can’t even keep my arm in place…”

Jens finished her breakfast as the robot spoke and weaved around him, reasserting her presence in his face. “Sounds like it sucks to be you.”

Nefarious eyed her, annoyed. “You’re not making me want to kill you any less.”

She picked up his arm and handed it over.

“You need a _hand,_ Nef?”

“Ha ha, _very_ cute,” He forcefully pulled it out of her paws and popped it back in as quickly as he grabbed it. “Also, stop calling me _that!_ ”

“Callin’ you what?”

“Your little nickname, _you_ idiot!!”

“What should I call you then? Irate Robot? Broken Junkpile?”

He twitched his eyes as he turned to the lombax. “Does she have an off switch on her?”

She back handed his comment as she looked over to the lombax. “Well I can see why you always have your hands full.”

Ratchet sat on the couch in a state of thought. He sighed, as Jens wondered what bothered him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just hoping Clank and Talwyn are alright.”

“I’m sure they’re fine. If you want, I’ll even help. A local could speed things along.”

Ratchet cracked a small smile. “Thanks, I could use it.”

“My pleasure. That, and no offence, I’d like to keep my house from burning to the ground.” She followed her words with a small nervous chuckle.

“Can’t blame you there.”

Jens popped down on the sofa next to Ratchet, leaning back comfortably. Nefarious shot up and fled to the other side of the room like he was being chased. The three sat in silence, causing Ratchet to think back to the previous night's conversation.

“Jens, what did you mean last night when you said you’d never seen anything as advanced as Nefarious? Or a robot in general, for that matter.”

“Huh?” She was puzzled by the question. “What are you talkin’ about? I don’t know where you’re from originally but I doubt anyone has seen anything quite like him before. Most robots can't even walk up stairs, let alone have deluxe glowing lights on their limbs.”

Nefarious raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“All the robots I’ve seen do daily home and work needs. Some people even battle them against each other.”

“You use _us_ as slaves?!” Nefarious realized as he stood up, quaking with fury. “What kind of sick planet is this?!”

“I don't think our roombas realize that they're doing our work. How different is it from making a microwave to heat up your bratwurst for thirty-two seconds?” She shook her head.  “I don’t know if Ratchet or who else created you, but whoever it was left a screw loose or somethin’. Ya know, anger issues and all…”

“First off, no one created me!! And second, what do you mean by _anger issues_?! I’m fine!!”

“Do I have to mention the glitch thing again?”

“ _Never_ talk about that! It’s humiliating.”

“Hey, not my problem you never kept up with your maintenance.”

Ratchet remained quiet as he tried to process the things Jens told him.

“So let me get this straight, you’ve never seen anything this advanced before? Seems kinda odd. Everywhere in the universe is advance.”

Jens just sat there baffled. “Universe? Shouldn’t you start with ‘galaxy’ first?” She snorted. “Okay, so maybe our robots aren’t so advance but maybe there are other differences between here and where you’re from?”

“Like what?” Ratchet asked.

“Well, tell me somethin’ that’s also advanced where you come from. That is, compared to here.”

“Hmm, let’s see…” Ratchet stared at the ceiling in thought. “Well, there’s space travel.”

“Space travel?” Jens said with heightened curiosity.

           “Yeah. You can very easily get a spaceship where we come from. In fact getting your first spaceship happens before planning your first vacation, or in my case, before you save the universe. You can take off into space, fly about, explore moons… in fact; a while ago Hyperspace Wormhole travel was invented so that we didn’t have to spend three weeks in our ships to get from planet to planet.”

“Wo-ow, really?” Jens was in awe. “I’ve never heard of such a thing, that’s amazin’! But, that would mean other parts of the galaxy are more advance than us then. Or…?” She looked at to the floor and sighed. “…I knew you guys weren’t from around here.”

Ratchet’s ears then perked up. “Wait a minute,” He quickly turned his head over to Nefarious. “Nefarious, you remember that wormhole back at Molonoth?”

“Yes, that’s why we’re stuck here right?”

Ratchet got off the couch and walked up to him as he spoke. “Well, think about it. The wormhole, the lack of the usual technology, heck, even the radio signal you used to catch wasn't the same!”

“I told you to never speak about that _again_!”

“Well, I was only making a point. But what I’m saying is, as crazy as it sounds; I think we may be in another dimension…”

“ _Excuse_ me?”

Laughter erupted from behind them and they turned to see Jens had rolled onto her back and had a hand pressed to her stomach. “Oh, _that's_ funny! I knew _he_ had a screw loose,” she jabbed a finger in Nefarious’s direction before redirecting it to Ratchet and continuing, “but you? Man!” she interrupted herself with another round of laughter. Ratchet and Nefarious shared a perturbed glance before staring back at her.

“I’m going to have to agree with her over there, and that’s likely the only thing I will…” Nefarious took a few steps back away from Ratchet.

 “I know it sounds far-fetched, but it would only make sense.”        

“ _How_ does that make sense to you again?” Nefarious turned his head over to Ratchet with his back still facing him, arms crossed.

“That’s what I said!”

  The two didn’t even bother to pay Jens any attention.  “Well, before you took Clank, I had Tachyon wanting to kill me and find some Lombax device called the Dimensionator.  It may seem odd to you, but I’ve been through this before.”

“Still think you’re crazy…”

  “Ok, ok, let me get a run down here,” Jens spoke, not even hiding her amusement. “ _Apparently_ , you guys crossed this weird wormhole...thing, and the next thing you know is that you’re here on little ol’ Rado Island?!” She gave a small chuckle before finishing her words. “ _Riiight_ …”

 “ _She_ even thinks you’re insane, now _that_ is offensive.” Nefarious sighed. Even though it was still hard to grasp Ratchet’s logic, thinking about it did make it sound more plausible. “Ok, so _suppose_ we are in another ‘dimension,’ what would that have to do with Vorselon?”

 “I have no idea. But, well, he’s a mercenary, right? So I’m sure it has something to do with a new client.”

   “Whatever.” Nefarious rolled his eyes gearing them over to Jens. “Will you stop laughing?! It isn’t even that funny!!”

Her laughter started to die down. “Sorry, it’s not often I have a guest over who came straight out of the loony bin.”           

“…I find that insulting…”          

Ratchet shook his head. “Jens, I know it sounds crazy, but it would somewhat explain the tech you haven’t seen before, right?”          

“I suppose,” she hopped off the couch, “But you sure you aren’t from some far end of the ‘universe’ that I don’t know about?”

“Great, now I’m going to be stuck with you longer than I hoped for.” The mad robot sat back on the sofa as he tapped his foot. His arm popped out again and he didn’t bother giving it his attention growing so use to it by now.

The Lombax sighed as he walked over and picked up Nefarious’ arm. “Look, as much as you hate me and I hate you Nefarious, we’re still going to need to help each other out. And besides finding my friends, we need to find Vorselon as well. He knows something we don’t.”

 Nefarious pulled his arm out of Ratchet’s hands. “Do you realize trying to converse with that nitwit Vorselon is like trying to say hello to a hungry Snagglebeast? He’ll kill us before we can get the smallest bit of information. Or won’t shut up about it. Either way it’s a death sentence.”

 “Yeah, I know, but it’s not like we can do much else at the moment, unless you want to spend some more quality time with Jens. Already see you two are getting along.”

  Nefarious turned his head to glare at her before looking back over to Ratchet as he popped his arm back into place. “No…”

 “Then it’s settled.” Ratchet picked up his wrench and looked over to Jens. “I know you said you’re willing help, but I think it’s best you sit this one out in case we bump into him, just for your safety.”

 “ _Pff_ , and _miss_ all the fun?” Jens chuckled. “Hey, trust me, whoever this _Vorselon_ guy is; I’m sure I could take him on with you two.”

  “Jens, you don’t know Vorselon like we do. He’s very dangerous; I think it's better that you stay at home.”

 “Hey, I said I would help you find your friends right? I’m goin’ to keep that promise.” She walked over to the table where her gun pouch laid and put it around her waist.

Ratchet sighed. “Well, just be careful. He seems to always find a way to come back and annoy the heck out of someone.”

“I’ll take your word.” Jens aimed her eyes at Ratchet’s wrench, shaking her head as she let out a snort. “You don’t plan on fighting him with _that_ thing, do you?” She headed over to a box on the other side of the room. “This Vorselon does sound like a toughie; I think we may need some…” She opened it with her foot, which revealed an arsenal of weapons inside. “Better artillery…”

“Whoa!” Ratchet walked over to the box, looking at the arms like a child in a candy store, “Where did you get all of these?!”

“They were my dad’s. He was in the army for a good few years before bein’ honorably discharged.” She dug in the container, as she took out some basic weapons. “It hasn’t been the same without him here though, I’ll say that.”

“Where is he now?”

Jens gazed over at Ratchet, not really wanting to answer it. “He died a few years back. We had an outbreak here and it took the lives of many. We both had it but I got better. He wasn’t so lucky.” She closed the box and then got up. “I’ve been livin’ by myself ever since. I miss him, but I’m survivin’.”

“Well, at least you knew your father…” His smile turned into a frown as Ratchet stared below him. Jens would be a fool not to notice.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything to upset you, right?”

“Huh?” Ratchet’s ears popped up when he heard the sound of her voice “Oh, no, not at all,” he scratched behind his head. “Um, sorry to hear about your father…”

“Are you sure? You seem like somethin’ is bothering you?”

“Yeah I’m sure…”

“Well, ok.” Jens remained silent. Ratchet was hiding something, but she knew not to push the issue on a personal affair. She looked around for Nefarious, shouting across the room. “Hey rust bucket, get over here!”

Nefarious stomped over to them, in an irate mood as always. “You realise the more you call me names, the less patience I'm gonna have.”

She handed him a weapon. “Here’s a gun for you.”

“ _Pff_ ,” He threw the firearm aside after he caught it, and fired up dark matter from his hands. “I don’t need any weapons.”

“If your confidence says so…”

Ratchet picked up the weapon that the robot threw away, claiming it for his own. “Well, we better get going then.”

The robot watched the two walk through the door; letting out  a sigh as he followed. “This is going to be a _fun_ few days…”

* * *

 

 Marching through the tropical forest, Clank and Talwyn kept a lookout for Ratchet in the hope they bumped into him sooner or later.

  “Ratchet,” Talwyn used her radio to try to contact him with no luck. “Ratchet, are you there?” Still no reply. She stared down over to the small robot. “This is going to take a while, isn’t it?”

“I am sure we will find him soon, Talwyn; do not lose hope just yet.”

“I know, but still.” She sighed. “Want to take a short break?”

Clank nodded and spotted a log not far from them. He jumped up and sat down with Talwyn right next to him. “I still do not know what that wormhole was.”

“You aren’t alone on that. We’ll figure that out later though.”

Talwyn tried her best to keep optimistic through all of this but couldn’t stop worrying about Ratchet. Where could he have gone? Did he land here with them? Was he safe?

And the thought of being alone again...

* * *

 

_"Aaaaargh!! LAWREEEENCE!!!" screamed Nefarious. Talwyn looked at the image in the dome of the Obsidian Eye as it faded away._

_*Signal lost. Co-ordinates acquired for Breegus Nebula*_

_“Nefarious!” Ratchet said as he started to walk out. “Hold on Clank, I’m coming…”_

_“Nefarious,” Talwyn chirped, following him out, baffled. “Who’s he?”_

_“An old enemy. Had to deal with his plans to turn all of Solana into robots. I thought he died with the Biobliterator.” Ratchet pressed a button on his belt, informing Aphelion to pick him up._

_“You’re going to the Breegus system then?”_

_“Of course.”_

_“But that part of Polaris is full of mercenaries, let alone crime; it’s a big risk going over there.”_

_“If this is my only chance to find Clank, I’ve got to take it…”_

_"Lombax delivery service!" Aphelion said as she flew in gracefully. “Oh! What’s happening over there?”_

_Ratchet and Talwyn turned around, seeing the Hoolefoids heading into the Obsidian Eye Chamber with tools. “What’s going on?” Ratchet asked._

_"We're gonna dismantle the Obsidian Eye! It's brought us too much trouble!"_

_"...with a sledgehammer?"_

_“Anything works!”_

_“Well, I guess it would…”_

_Talwyn then turned to Ratchet. “So…you’re going then?”_

_“Yeah, I am.”_

_“Then I’m coming along. Hell if you’re going alone.”_

_"I think it’ll be easier to manage by myself.”_

_“Ratchet?”_

_“You even said that the Breegus Nebula is dangerous, Tal. Don’t worry I’ll be fine._

_She wasn’t going to argue with him. He was right though; this was his only shot of finding Clank. She wanted to come with him but she wasn’t going to push him into it. That’s not saying her stubbornness didn’t take a toll on her mood._

_Ratchet looked over at Talwyn taking notice of her face. “Something the matter?”_

_“No, it’s just...” She stared at the ground for a second before looking back up._

_“I know you want to come Tal, but I think it’ll be best you stay home. Now that things are calmed down, it should be safer for you to search for your father.”_

_The mention of her father almost made her choke._

_“C’mon, you ready to leave?”_

_Talwyn fell incredibly silent.  “…yeah.”_

_Ratchet climbed into Aphelion as Talwyn followed, and they departed Merdegraw._

_The entire journey, Talwyn felt a heavy sadness over her, and old memories haunted her thoughts. She already felt she lost her father, and now, she believed she was going to lose her lombax friend, someone that made her feel secure in this time of need. She feared if he too vanished…_

* * *

 

“…Talwyn?”

“Hmm?” Talwyn was brought back to the present after hearing Clank’s voice.

“Are you alright?” Clank looked at her, concerned.

“Oh, I’m fine. I was just thinking that’s all.” She took a breather or two before getting back on her feet. “We should get a move on..”

Clank followed after her through the jungle. There was a clearing where the light shined through the trees. They found themselves somewhat stepping onto civilization as they gazed over a house in the middle of the harsh world around them. One of the locals was sitting on a chair with his newspaper covering his face. He snored loud enough that they were able to hear him before they even stepped foot on to his property.

Talwyn and Clank exchanged a glance before looking over at the sleeping man. Neither wanted to bother him but after a look around failed to yield answers they both deemed it necessary. Clank stepped forward and cleared his throat before speaking in a firm, yet friendly tone.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Huh, who, what?!” The man swiftly woke up right after hearing the little robot below him as his paper left his face and landed on his lap. “Huh?” He looked down. “Oh, a visitor,” He scratched the back of his head replying with his deep voice, “Don’t often expect anyone around here…”

“We are sorry if we are a nuisance to you, sir,” Clank replied as Talwyn followed behind. “But we seem to be lost and are trying to find our friend.”

“Friend? What did he or she look like?” He got up from his chair as he stretched his arms out. “Doubt I’ve seen him or her, but shoot anyways…”

“Well,” Talwyn started to talk about Ratchet’s appearance. “He’s a little below my height, yellow-orange fur with brown stripes, really long ears.”

“Hmm. Nope, haven’ seen him or anyone like that, I’m afraid.” He then looked down at Clank, raising his eyebrow. “Guessin’ you aren’t from around here?”

“No, we are not.” Clank looked back at Talwyn, and then at the local. “But, where are we?”

“You? Oh, you’re on Rado Island. Guessin’ you didn’t come here to see the sights?

Talwyn nodded, “Pretty much. We just landed here…”

“Ah, I see.” He picked up the paper that fell on the floor when he got up. “But no, I haven’ seen anyone around here as you described. However, I could call the village. I’m sure they may have seen him.”

“There's a village not far? I mean, that would be great if you can but we can walk over their ourselves as well if you give us directions.”

“I suppose, but from the look of things; you two look quite exhausted. I’d think it wouldn’ hurt to offer a bit of Rado’s hospitality. I even have the crock pot cookin’ some lunch. Ol’ family recipe.” 

Talwyn crossed her arms. “You're quiet quick to offer random strangers into your home just for lunch.”

“Am I? You can deny my offer if you wish.”

She then looked down to Clank. “What do you think?”

“He seems quite friendly, and we can use all the help we could get.”

She sighed. “Well, we could use the break. And whatever you have in that crock pot does sound good. I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

“Of course. Still wouldn’t hurt to head over there tomorrow regardless. But don’t you worry miss, I’ll help you find your friends however I can.” He followed with a wink of an eye.

“Thank you for your assistance, sir.”

“You may call me Marc, and I’m glad to help.” He pointed to the house behind him. “Now, why don’t you two go inside and chill for a bit, I’ll go contact the village via satellite. Lunch should be ready soon.”

As both walked inside, Marc eyed them, giving a glare behind their backs. Out of earshot, he took out his radio, trying to get in contact with someone.

“This is Marc Ramrock, anyone on this line?”

“Yes, we can hear you loud and clear.”

“Remember how Empress Lania wanted us to contact her in case we bump into some... _unusual_ guests in this area? Well, I think I may have found some…”

* * *

 

“Ok, so can you two describe your friends again for me?” Jens asked as they strolled down the path to the village, “so I can get a better understanding when we talk to the townsfolk.”

“For the _last_ time,” Nefarious yelled, not liking how she kept referring to Ratchet’s problems as his, “they are _his_ friends, not mine!”

“Well, geez, _sorry_ ! No need to get all worked up about it.” She continued to walk, facing Ratchet as she turned around striding backwards.  “Then perhaps I should rephrase myself. Ratchet, can _you_ describe your friends again for me?“

“Yeah sure,” Ratchet started to describe in detail, “Clank is below my height. Has big green eyes, little red light on top. And Talwyn is taller than me, kinda has an elf like appearance.”

“Ah. _Soo_ , this Talwyn your girlfriend, right?”

“Whoa!” Ratchet waved his hands around, “Where you get that idea? Talwyn and I are only, and _only_ friends.”

“I don’t think it’s embarrassin’ you know.”

“I’m being honest!”

“All right then.” Jens started walking ahead of the two as she entered the town, humming a tune. “Still don’t need to be ashamed of it or anythin’.”

Ratchet’s ears lowered as he put his palm to his face. “Why does everyone think I have something going on with Tal?”

“You do mention her a lot.” Nefarious replied bluntly.

“Don’t tell me _you_ do too?!”

“I really don’t care, honestly…”

“Hey, you guys comin’ or not?!” Jens yelled over to the lombax and robot as she strolled into the village. 

“Yeah, we’re coming,” Ratchet ran to catch up to her.

Nefarious just rolled his eyes, mumbling while he traveled with them. “Hopefully, none of these _squishies_ are as bad as you are…”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Nef?”

“First off,” He put his finger in her face. “I thought we agreed you would not call me _that_! Second, you know well what I’m talking about!”

“We agreed on somethin’?”

“Argh!”

“Careful Jens,” Ratchet replied with a sarcastic tone, “you don’t want him to freeze up again…” He followed it up with a small laugh, with Nefarious giving him nothing but a death glare in response. The robot looked around; noticing people staring at him. He put his face into his hands.

“I’m going to need therapy after this…”

"Look on the bright side; you needed therapy long before this..." Ratchet gave him a pat on the back.

“I wasn’t talking to you, long ears!”

“Oh,” Jens spoke. “When we are talkin’ to the locals, don’t mention the whole ‘dimension’ thing. Not the best way to give off a first impression.”

“I get what you’re getting at Jens, but,” Ratchet pointed over to Nefarious. “Do you not think people are going to find this odd?”

“Good point. Hm.” She pondered, and then looked up at both of them. “I’ll think of somethin’.”

Nefarious just eyed her oddly. “…I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Oh, and act like a normal robot would.”

“…Normal? I am normal!”

“Not for this planet you’re not!”

“Ok, ok, then how would a _normal_ robot act then?”

“I don’t know? Talkin’ in the third person and having a monotone voice. That’s what I’ve gathered from science fiction anyways…”

Nefarious just stopped moving. “…excuse me? There’s no way I’m doing that…”

“Hey, just roll with it and we’ll all get along fine!” Jens sighed. “C’mon, we’ll talk to Cal first. Need to pick up somethin’ from him anyways…”

As they walked through the town, Jens stopped at a small shop door telling both of them to wait outside.

“Cal,” she shouted as she walked inside. “Cal, are you here?!” Hearing a thump from outside, she quickly ran out.

Ratchet and Nefarious both glanced eerily at the slim man on the ground. Jens saw him on the soil. “Cal!”  Running up to him, she held a hand out and helped him up. “Cal, you all right?”

“That be you Ms. Kallo?” He slowly gained his balance as he stared at the direction where he heard her voice. “Sorry abou’ that, was doin’ some work up there…”

“Alone?”

“Eyup! Didin’ have much helpin’ today sadly.”

“You should have called me in! A man of your age shouldn’t stress himself out.”

Cal looked around. “Now where are those darn glasses of mine…”

Cal was the same species as Jens, only he was taller and much older, with shades of gray fur. 

Ratchet saw his glasses on the ground and picked them up. “Here, I believe you dropped these.” He handed them over.

The older Levisian looked over to the Lombax as he grabbed them. “Ah. Thank yer fella.” He then put them back on and gave a few blinks as he gained sight again. He looked over to the Lombax, and then back at Jens. “He be a friend of yers?”

“Yup, they’re mine.” She let go of Cal after realizing he was able to stand back up on his own feet. “This is Ratchet; he crashed landed here and is lookin’ for his friends. I agreed to help him…”

“Friends, huh?” Cal adjusted his glasses, just now taking sight of Nefarious and took his arm as he examined.

 _‘Not this again…’_ Nefarious just rolled his eyes, not giving the pleasure of a stare.

“Well, I’ll be.” Cal moved around him amazed. “I neva’ saw anythin’ like this before. What kinda model this be?”

“Oh, this bucket of bolts?” Ratchet improvised in a cheerful tone as he pointed over to Nefarious. “Erm, this is my Luggageton 30000!”

“ _What?!”_ Nefarious shouted in protest at Ratchet’s lie.

“Just play along …” Ratchet whispered as he put some of his artillery into the robot’s arms. “He’s good for traveling and what not.”

“Watch it you insolent squish-I mean,” Nefarious changed his tone of voice. “Me Luggageton, please leave your equipment here…” He wanted to yell as his eye twitched in annoyance.

“Golly! First time me seein’ anythin’ like it!” Cal stepped away from _Luggageton_ and over to a box. “I’ll need to get me one of those these days. Back startin’ to go…”

Ratchet put his arms behind his back as he gave Nefarious a cheeky grin. “Well they do come in handy…”

Jens let out a small snicker before Cal handed her a box. “I believe this be what ya wanted, right Ms Kallo? Wasn’ easy to find.”

She took a peek inside the box. “Eyup, that’s what I ordered.” Jens walked up to Nefarious, putting the package within his arms as well. “Hold that buddy, would you.” She gave a big, cheesy smile as she gave him a wink.

Nefarious just glared down at her, keeping hold of everything Ratchet and she gave him, trying not to erupt with anger. “Urge to initiate total annihilation, rising…”

Ratchet then saw some odd figures walking past them in black and red cloaks. He couldn’t see who they were due to their faces being covered by shadows from their hoods.

“I see yer eye caught one of these weird folks.” Cal’s remark made Ratchet turn around, as he perked up after hearing his voice.

“Who are they?” Ratchet replied.

“Those folks? Beats me.” He continued. “We’ve been gettin’ some really odd natives around these parts the last few weeks.”

“Last few weeks?”

“Eyup, bizarre fellas’ too, they came askin’ me about some device I’ve neva’ heard of…”

“First time I’ve noticed them, but I’m sure it’s nothin’.” Jens scratched her head, trying to think what she was going to ask. “Oh yeah, Ratchet, wasn’t there somethin’ you wanted to-”

She swiftly turned her head around from the sound of what was in her box being dropped on the floor and noticed that they were gone. “Ratchet?” She started looking around for her Lombax friend, and saw both of them running in the direction that the cloak wearing people did.

“Argh, Cal, you mind watching my things, please, thanks?” She quickly ran for her friends. “Ratchet, wait up!”

Cal rubbed the back of his head as he watched Jens leave. “Surely not very polite that fella’…”

He returned to his work until he heard some cranking sounds coming from behind him. He turned around and saw another mechanoid slithering through the town. It had a dome at the top containing a small green head, and the mechanical parts were badly damaged. Its tentacle legs weren’t all together with a few dragging on the ground, with his movement being pushed forward by force. He mumbled to himself as he passed by Cal’s shop, the Levisian just watching him oddly until he finally broke his silence.

“What seems to be the problem fella’?”

The Terraklon just glared Cal down livid, not very pleased with the pickle he was in. But despite the mood; he thought he would take the chance to ask someone if they spotted his target.

“I’m looking for a few… _friends_ of mine,” He said in a civil, yet still in the menacing tone he always held. “Have you seen them by any chance?”

Cal fixed his glasses once more to get a better glance at him, and replied. “Odd you say such a thing. I had some long ear fella’ lookin’ for his friends as well, you may just be in luc-”

“Where is he?! Tell me!” Vorselon raised his voice at Cal as he picked him up by the collar of his shirt, demanding he tell where they were.

“Oh, he left a few seconds ago, don’t know where to thou-”

“Insolent creature,” He didn’t let the Levisian finish, “this is no time to test my wrath! _Now_ where is he?!!”

“Hey there fella’,” Cal said nervously, “I don’t want any trouble right now, all right? I really don’t know where they went…”

His patience wore thin. Vorselon started to boost up energy from his free hand until he heard a beeping sound. He growled, and then dropped Cal on the ground. “You shall live, for now…” The mercenary walked away from him, finding a place where he could pick up his call in private. Cal just watched him leave as he got up.

“Geez, we’ve sure been gettin’ some _interestin’_ folks around here…”

* * *

 

Vorselon hid behind a few trees outside the town, pressing the buttons on the back of his hand before Lania’s hologram popped up.

“Flint, how’s the progress finding those friends of yours?”

He swallowed in fear as he was about to reply. “No-not so good, my lady…”

Lania just rolled her eyes but then cleared her voice. “I just came to inform you that one of my agents may have spotted some of them, he called me and I’m sending my troops over there to pick them up…”

“The Lombax!!” Vorselon cried, thinking that he already failed.

“Lombax? No, it wasn’t one of those furry rats. It was some elf chick and her toaster; don’t know the full details though.”

Vorselon sighed in relief. “My lady, if you by chance hear anything about a Lombax, please, let me take care of this one.”

“Guessing this is someone that really screwed you over big time, am I right?”

“Yes my lady, and I would like the pleasure to kill him myself.”

“Do you really think this is the time for you to have a personal vendetta? Perhaps that’s why your judgment is so clouded at the moment.” She sighed crossing her arms. “Fine, if you must do so, just, don’t screw it up…”

“I shall not my lady.”

“Very well, Lania out…”

* * *

 

Jens sprinted over to Ratchet and Nefarious as fast as she could as she tried to gain back her breath. “Ratchet, Nef, What the _hell?_! You can’t just-”

“Shhh,” Ratchet put his finger over his mouth to signal to her to remain quiet, as he turned around, watching the cloak wearing inhabitants walk into a cave. Ratchet looked over at Nefarious as he spoke. “We’ve got to follow them…”

“Why, where are you two goin’?” She kept her voice low as she followed both of them, wondering what they were both up to. “You can’t just go spyin’ on people like that…”

“Well, guess what we’re doing,” Nefarious said as he hid behind a rock with Ratchet, waiting for an opportunity to enter unnoticed.

“You two just can’t-” She grabbed Nefarious’ arm to stop them from going in, causing it to pop out. “AH!!”

“Hush you squishie little brat!” The robot looked down at his arm. “Give me _that!_ ” He quickly grabbed it out of her hands as he yelled at her, putting it back in his socket. “Do you not see we’re trying to get answers here?!”

“Both of you shut up!” Ratchet stressed before looking back to the cave.  “Cal said that these people, as well as a few other things around here, have been getting pretty strange. We’re going to see what this is about…”

“By spyin’ on people?!”

“If it’s the only choice we’ve got…” All three of them started to pace in. “I’m guessing you’re coming then, right?”

She sighed. “I suppose. Someone has to watch you two anyways, in case you do somethin’ stupid. Besides, it’ll be like an adventure, right?”

“All right then,” Ratchet started to enter the cave, “Just keep quiet, ok.”

As they kept entering deeper, it started to get darker to the point that it was hard to see. “Ok, does anyone have a flashlight?” Ratchet raised the question, hoping for a positive answer.

“I may,” Jens dug into her pouch, optimistic that she had one. “Ah, here we go.” She took it out, turning it on to light the way. All of them looked through the cavern, checking to see if anything came up. Everything was sheer quietness, to the point you could hear a pin drop.

"Wait, what's this?" Ratchet asked, stopping.

"What's what?" Jens replied

They stopped at a door placed right into the cave wall. Ratchet tried opening it. "Argh, it's locked. I need a better tool to get in."

“Stand aside Lombax,” Nefarious pushed Ratchet aside, “I got this!” He then raged his lasers onto the door. As the dust cleared, there wasn’t the slightest dent to it. “Huh?” He attempted the same thing again with no success.  "What?!" The robot chucked several of his shockwave bombs at the door but yet again the entrance emerged victorious.

 _"NGAAAAAAAAH!!!"_ Nefarious wailed. "Why won't you just die?!"

"Hey genius, try blowing up the rock wall this time." Ratchet suggested.

“ _Oh_ , surely that will work.” Nefarious shot one of his simple finger lasers at the rock next to the door as he rolled his eyes, and the rock crumbled away almost immediately. “…Now why didn’t I think of that before?”

As Ratchet and Nefarious walked through the hole and past the door, Ratchet picked up one of the rocks and waggled it in Nefarious' face.

"Hey look, an asteroid!"

"Gah!!" Nefarious said, and promptly blasted it. "Don't _do_ that!!"

Jens shook her head as she followed them out. “Children, both of you.” She then heard sounds in the background, squinting her eyes to see further. “Odd, never saw a tower like that around here before.”

“Huh?” Ratchet turned around, seeing what Jens saw. He looked back at the other two. “Well, let’s check it out…”

All three pursued the direction of the tower, hoping to find the answers they were looking for. They peeked through the greenery, spying over the factory they found.

“Hey Jens, are there normally factories like that in this universe?”

“We have factories, but not on this island that I know of.”

  Running over to get a closer look, they hid behind a few trees, watching a few robots carrying supplies into the building. “I hate my job…” One of them said as he talked to another.

 “Just feel lucky you are not getting your head blown off. Think of it this way, at least we get paid well.”

Ratchet just raised an eyebrow. _‘I thought Jens said robots weren’t advanced?’_

“Oh my gosh! This is-” Before she was able to get another word out, Nefarious grabbed hold of her and slapped a hand over her mouth to silence her, muffling the end of her exclamation. 

 "Will you shut up?!" Nefarious hissed sharply, his voice just quiet enough to not be overheard. "Are you trying to get us killed?!"

 One of the robots perked up when hearing the girl’s voice. “Hey, 3X2P, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” The other one looked at him, dazed.

“A voice, I thought I heard one from the bushes.”      

“I am sure it was just the wind; this place is secret.”

 As Jens got loose, she furiously shouted at Nefarious. “What the hell was that abou-” And he covered her mouth again.

“Good save Nefarious.” Ratchet replied. 

“She really shouldn’t have come along…”

The worker android once again turned around, swearing he heard someone. He saw movement coming from the bushes, having a feeling that someone was there.

Nefarious let go of the girls mouth again as she just eyed him in annoyance.

 “You have to be more careful,” Ratchet said as the robot walked off, “they could have spotted us.” He started to walk out from the undergrowth. “We should find a way inside.”

Jens jumped. “ _What_?! We’re already trespassin’ as it is, now you want to-?!”

 “Well, what-” Ratchet spotted one of the workers walking over, with gun handy. “Quick, we got to hide.” The trio jumped and hid behind the nearest object.

 The robot walked over and looked through the shrubs, but no one was there. He shook his head with a small laugh. “Yeah, I guess it was just the wind…” As he turned the other way, their heads to follow from where they hid behind a tree.

 “Well good going Squishie,” Nefarious looked down to the girl, speaking with a critical tone; “you almost got _us_ killed.”

 Ratchet looked around, checking if the coast was clear. “We should go; we’ll come back here tomorrow.”

  “ _Whoa_ , are you seriously plannin’ on this?” Jens turned her eyes back over to the factory before returning them to Ratchet.          

“Jens? Doesn’t this place seem out of place to you?”         

“Yeah.”

 “Well, if this is where all the weird things are happening; then we have to. We may get some answers.”

The Levisian just sighed. She knew she wouldn’t be able to talk Ratchet out of it otherwise. “This is a bad idea...”

 “You don’t need to come you know?”

  “Hey, you want to risk gettin’ put in the slammer, that’s your choice.”

All three of them started to pace away from the factory. As they did so, the worker caught them leaving out of the corner of his eye. Giving an evil eye, he took his gun out and followed them…

* * *

 

“Ok, with the dimension nonsense and now this,” Jens spoke to Ratchet as they got outside the cave, with Nefarious just remaining quiet the whole time. “I’m startin’ to not think of you two as crazy. But I still feel its wrong just spying and trespassin’ on people.”

 “Well, as I said,” The Lombax replied, “it’s the only way we can get answers. And it’s not like you need to get involved.”

 “True, but I don’t trust you two on your own…”

“We’ll be fine. I’ve done these things before, so I’m use to it.”

 “If you say so…”

 “Will you stop putting me into this?” Nefarious just glared down to Ratchet, in his normal mood. “I don’t want anything to do with you; I just want to get home.”

Ratchet sighed. “Look, I know I already addressed this, but I want to get home too, even if it means work with a rusty machine like you.”

 “You’re an idiot if you seriously think I’m willing to even lend a hand to you to begin-”

“Halt!” All three of them turned around after hearing the shout and saw the worker aiming his gun at them. Jens just snarled at the robot, then back at her friends.

 “Eyup, we’re goin’ to jail...”

 “You are under arrest for trespassing on Neoprine Empire property!” The robot moved a bit closer to them, as he charged up his gun.  “Come quietly, or else I will have to use force!”

 “Neoprine Emprie?” Ratchet questioned, looking puzzled.

 “Look what you’ve done now, you moron,” Nefarious kicked Jens in the butt annoyed; “we got spotted!”

The girl just growled back. “I told both of you that we shouldn’t go spyin’!”

  “If you didn’t come along,” Nefarious argued, “no one would have known we were there in the first place!!”

 Watching both the doctor and the girl argue back and forth, the worker-bot just eyed them both, getting off track of what he was doing. He then shook his head, returning to the job at hand.

 “Silence!” He shouted. Both Nefarious and Jens went silent as both looked at each other, then back at the robot aiming his gun at them. “Geez, you guys are annoying, but it seem like we have to do it the hard way. Prepare to -” Before he could fire his weapon, he took a good look around, noticing Ratchet was nowhere in sight…

“Hey? Where did the other one -” and a nice, chunky wrench hit him in the back of the head, causing him to fall down. Ratchet started to run away from the enemy, Nefarious and Jens following. As the worker robot got up, he sprinted quickly after, firing his weapon at them.

Both continued to try to lose him, however as luck had a cruel sense of humor, they caught themselves at a dead end. “Crap.” Ratchet turned around, seeing the annoyed worker-bot, booting up his firearm once more.

 “You guys sure are fast, but even then, you can’t outwit me.”

Nefarious leaned over to the lombax. “So, any heroic plan to get us out of this mess?”

“Besides waiting for our deaths, nope, not really…”

“Well that’s promising.”

Ratchet glared above the foe, seeing a chunk of rock below it. He aimed his eyes over to Nefarious, softly whispering. “Nefarious, aim your lasers at that cliff over there when the time is right.”

 “Huh?”

“Just do it!”

"Ok, ok …”

“Say bye bye.” And before the enemy could fire his weapon, Nefarious fired his lasers at the rock, causing them to tumble down. The small robot looked up. “Oh sh-”

The earth crushed its body with his head still sticking out. “ow…”

The three stared it down before anyone said anything again.

“ _So_ , time to head back to my place?" 

“Couldn’t agree more…”

 

* * *

 

_It was peaceful, cool day in Meridian City; Ratchet was waiting on Qwark to arrive before flying off to the Breegus system. Cronk, Zephyr and Talwyn were there to see him take off. She looked over at the Lombax, impatiently stomping his foot as he waited for his friend to come. He bought himself some new armor for the occasion._

_She turned her head over to her caretakers, who were arguing as always about trivial matters, then back over to Ratchet, seeing his frown._

_“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Talwyn asked with her voice holding an uneasy tone._

_Ratchet turned over to her. “If there’s any chance I’ll find Clank, I’ve got to take it.”_

_“I know.” Talwyn sighed._

_Both of them perked up after hearing sounds of engines; they looked up and saw a small ship land. As the door opened, out came Captain Qwark. “Anybody call for a ridiculously attractive savior?”_

_The Lombax just rolled his eyes._

_“Heheh, I just can’t get over that line! Just finished filming my new Holo-Film, My Blaster Runs Hot! It’s so awesome the director said they didn’t even have to get me a stunt double!”_

_Ratchet looked over at Talwyn. “Well, I guess I’m off then…”_

_“Yeah…”_

_“I’ll be back, I promise.”_

_Before Ratchet walked over to Aphelion, Talwyn hugged him. “Come back safe, all right? And soon.”_

_Ratchet put his arms around her as well. “I will.”_

_“Hello, Captain Qwark to sidekick?!” Qwark shouted as he stood next to Ratchet’s ship. “Are you ready to hit the cosmos?!”_

_Both Talwyn and Ratchet let go, looking at each other one more time before the Lombax walked the other way. “Take care of yourself while I’m gone.” He then hopped into Aphelion with Qwark following right after. “I hope you don’t plan on calling me your sidekick the whole journey, right?”_

_Watching the ship fly off, Cronk put his hand on her shoulder as she turned around. “Don’t worry Ms. Apogee, he’ll be all right.”_

_“I really hope so Cronk, I really hope so…”_

* * *

 

“Talwyn?” Clank said her name while she was still day dreaming, but was brought back to reality quickly as she looked at the little robot. “Are you alright?”

“Just got a lot on my mind Clank. I’m fine though.”

While the two were talking, Marc strolled back inside as the both quickly caught notice.

“So,” she asked, “Any luck?”

“Sorry miss,” Marc’s voice sounded a tinge displeased but he tried his best to keep his cheerful tone, “No one saw your friend, my apologies.”

When hearing the answer given, she once again started to get frustrated. _‘Where are you, Ratchet?’_

“Don’t worry though,” Marc spoke again, “I’m sure he’ll pop up soon, You can ask the villagers all about him to-” He heard a knock at the door. “Hold on a second there Miss.” He ran over to the entrance, opening it.

“Hey, you two,” Marc shouted across the room, “I believe someone is here for you!”

“Ratchet?!” Both Talwyn and Clank quickly darted outside the door, hoping it was their friend, though that wasn’t the case…

“You are under arrest by the order of Empress Lania,” Said one of the guards, as he held out his laser sword at them. “You will be left unharmed if you come quietly!”

“You must be mistaken,” Clank peeped, “we did not cause any crime to-”

“Your crime is clear! Now come quietly! This is your final warning!”

Marc walked up to Talwyn. “Sorry about that Miss, but I’m just doin’ my job.”

She snarled. “You lying-!”

“Trust me when it’s better you follow their orders. These guys aren’t known for bein’ merciful…”

Both glared at him as they were being taken away.  The local gave them a grin and tip of his hat as he watched them off…

* * *

 

“Argh! Where is it?!” Nefarious was looking all over the place for his fallen arm, not having the best of luck. Ratchet sat on the couch while trying to tune out the robot’s yelling.

He thought about the things they learned today. Everything seemed out of place. Jens saw this, and she was likely the best source to ask. Also, the Neoprine Empire, what was that?

While the Lombax was thinking, the mad robot was still occupied with looking for his missing limb. “Blasted thing!” He then heard a clink sound from behind him, and there was Jens, holding his arm in her lap as she hummed a song. Nefarious just sighed as he looked at her. “You mind giving that back now?”

“Why should I?”

“Because…”

“Because what?”

“Because it’s _my_ arm!!”

“Oh yeah,” She said waving it around. “Well, that’s not a valid reason.”

Nefarious took a good few steps near her, “Hand _over_ my arm, you _Squishie_ little brat!!!”

“No! Not until you say you’re sorry!!”

He eyed her with confusion yet still irritated. “For what?!!”

She pushed over the box that Cal gave her with her foot over to him, showing all the things she ordered were damage. “For breakin’ my package, gear head!!”

“You’re the one who gave it to me!!”

“So therefore it’s your fault, rust bucket!!!”

“Gah!! Give it back!!!” Nefarious started chasing her around the room as Ratchet was still thinking to himself.  The yelling ended up being unbearable for his ears and he turned around back to Nefarious and Jens, who were tugging at the limb as the argued.

“Jens, just give him back his arm…”

Both looked at the Lombax. “Pff, fine.” Jens let go of his limb, as Nefarious fell to the ground from the momentum. Getting back up, he put his arm in his socket, giving her a glare. She then stuck out her tongue in his direction.

“Very mature…”

Ratchet put his palm on his face with a small chuckle. “And you say we’re like children?”

“Ok, so I’m no better.” Jens walked up to the couch and sat next to Ratchet. “So, are you really goin’ back over there tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I plan to…”

“And you have a plan I reckon?”

“Nope.”

“Sounds promising.”

“Don’t worry, breaking into high security installations is kinda my thing.”

“Well, don’t count on me going, Lombax!” Nefarious crossed his arms with his back still facing the others. “I’m not playing backpack…”

“Trust me, I don’t think I want you as one, but,” He quickly got up and walked over to his nemesis, “I may need your help now. More than ever.”

“ _Pff_ , what’s in it for me?”

“Well, you want to get home, right?”

“Yes.”

Ratchet sighed. “Mind you, I don’t like the idea much more than you do.”

“Then take _her_!” He pointed his finger at the girl.

“I think I’ll pass.”

“So I should risk someone with no fighting experience and burdened with our problems to a possible death? Yeah Nefarious, smart idea.” Ratchet just shook his head before turning back over to the robot. “Look, we both hate each other, right? Now that that’s out of the way, as much as I hate to say it, just this one time we got to put our differences aside and get through this. After I find my friends and get home, we each go our own way again, deal?”

Nefarious rolled his eyes, and then sighed. “Fine, but only this once, after that, we’re back to being arch-nemeses.”

“Not planning on making friends here, so works for me..”

Jens yawned as she looked over at the clock. “Well, I’m pooped. Gonna head to bed.”

“Good, I’m getting away from you two,” the robot stomped to the bedroom.

“What, not gonna say g’night?” Jens called, as Nefarious just eyed her.

She shook her head and looked down over at Ratchet.  “I can see why you hate each other, he’s always so grumpy.” Jens looked over at Ratchet, and saw his concerned face. “Still worried about your friends, huh?”

“Yeah,” Ratchet sighed. “I just hope Clank and Tal are alright.”

“You’ll find them soon, I’m sure of it…”

“I just hope.”

Jens herself got a bit worried as well. She didn’t want to see her new friend sad, nor lose hope. Thinking for a second, before when she mentioned her father, she saw him become sad as well. It bothered her. She sat on the couch next to him. “I’m sorry if I’m bein’ a bit of a nuisance bringing this up again, but why were you so down when I mentioned my father? I mean, if you mind talkin’ about it?”

He turned to her. No, he didn’t want to answer the question. However, he saw her face full of grief, thinking as if she had done something bad. He at least thought it was best to assure her she did nothing wrong.. “Well, it’s kinda a long story, but…” He sighed as he tried to get his words out, “but I never got to know my father because he died when I was an infant, nor the rest of my family.”

“What happened?”

“Tachyon. He attacked the Lombaxes after stealing their technology. And, well, it caused them to go to another dimension as a last resort.” He eyed the soil below, still speaking, “My father stayed behind, along with me. I’m not sure if he was the one but I think he sent me to Solana, hoping that I would be safe. Tachyon did end up finding me years later but we stopped him from taking over the rest of universe.”

“Seems like quite the story.”

“Yeah, and when Clank was kidnapped by Nefarious soon after, I met another Lombax on my search named Alister Azimuth. He was the first Lombax I had ever met, and the closest thing I ever had to a father. But, he died while fixing a mistake he’d made.”  He felt Azimuth’s watch in his pocket reminding himself of the elder. “I still have Clank though. I guess you can say he’s like a brother to me…”

Jens felt a bit of his pain as she listened to his story. She didn’t know what else to say to him, but she thought she would try her best to cheer him up.

“You know, when my father passed away, I didn’t know what to do. I was full of grief myself when he died. I was alone to defend for myself and had no other family to go to. I thought I’d never get over his passing... 

“But, while it took me some time, I knew he would have wanted the best for me and not to mourn over him.” She stood up and put her hand on Ratchet’s shoulder as she comforted him. “And I’m sure your father, as well as Alister, would want the same for you…”

Ratchet looked up at her, giving her a small smile.

Jens stretched her arms up in the air as she yawned. “Well, I’m going to hit the hay. You should too, bein’ you plan on going back over there tomorrow.”

She started to walk to her room, turning her head around facing him. “Just try to not get yourself killed. I want to see you be able to return home with your friends.”

“I think we’ll be fine.”

She smiled, and then went inside her room. As she left, Ratchet looked up to the ceiling, thinking to himself, about Clank and Talwyn.

_‘I just hope you’re ok, pal…’_

 

**-End Chapter Four-**


	5. Chapter Five:  Storming the Factory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man this chapter took me forever to rewrite. But yeah, here's the next chapter...

**-Chapter Five:  Storming the Factory-**

Both Clank and Talwyn were kept inside a small, bland looking room which only contained a metal table and stiff chairs which they were forced to sit on. Talwyn was stripped of her blaster, so they couldn’t pose any threat.

“Well, at least we aren’t in the heat…” She sighed as she looked down at the little robot. It wasn’t too long until the stillness of the room was interrupted by a creak of the door. Marc walked in as quickly as he slammed it shut and made his way over to the small table the two were sitting at.

“Well, with General Thanatos bein’ busy at the moment, Empress Lania asked me to do the questionin’.” Marc sat down on the chair across from them, putting his legs on the table. “Integration weren’t somethin’ I’d put on my resume, but suppose it’s a nice change of pace. You should be lucky that Thanatos isn’t the one who’s interviewing you; he’s far from bein’ easy goin’. Besides,” He took out a pack of cigarettes before continuing, giving a smile. “It’ll give us some more time to bond; aye miss?”

Talwyn gave him nothing more than a glare. Clank spoke up, keeping his tone calm, though there was tinge of anger in his voice.

“May I ask why we are being held here, sir?”

           The thin, yet well built Levisian pulled a smoke out of the set with his teeth before taking a lighter out of his pants pocket. “Empress Lania was informed about some odd guests bein’ in the area,” He lit his cigarette as he spoke, “and bein’ you two seemed to fit that description, I put two and two together.”

           “Wait, who is  Lania?” Talwyn questioned.

           Marc quickly got up from his chair and slammed his hand on the table. “The last time I checked, I was the one askin’ the questions here. Unless I was misinformed.”  Unintentionally the smoke from his cigarette few into Talwyn’s face, causing her to gag as it polluted the air around her. He started walking away slowly from the table.

           After he composed himself, he turned back around to the prisoners. “Now, perhaps you can give me the real reason why you’re here.”

Talwyn and Clank looked at each other. “We gave you a reason yesterday.”

“And you think that’s enough for me to believe you? I ain't stupid miss, I know there's more you’re not be tellin’ me.”

Talwyn leaned over to Clank. “Do you think we should tell him?”

           “I do not see why not.”

Talwyn cleared her throat. “We were sucked into a wormhole made by a mercenary called Lord Vorselon, and-”

“Vorselon?! You mean that idiot Lania just hired?!” Marc started to rant. “She said she found him floatin’ in a tank on some marsh planet after his body was stolen! Sounds like a total fool, I mean how can you lose your own robotic body?!”

Talwyn just listened as she whispered to her robot companion. “…I don’t think it was a good idea to tell him.”

“And why the hell she wou-” He stopped as he shifted his eyes back to the hostages finally realising he lost track of what he was ordered to do.

“Pardon me miss, I seem t’have gotten a bit off topic there for a sec. Regardless, Wha-”

“Mr. Ramrock!” The door unlocked as a heavy bound man came running in. “We have a problem!!”

“Problem? Can’t this wait?  I’m quite busy at this very second.”

“Yeah, I know, but I think our secret headquarters aren’t so, um,  _ secret _ anymore.”

The guard brought in the worker bot that Ratchet encountered from yesterday, still a broken mess from the rocks that crushed his body.

“What the hell happened?” 

“I’m sor- sorry to inform yo-you sir,” the robot shuddered on its words, “Bu-but we had some un-unexpected guests in th-the area.”

“You mean there were more ‘unexpected’ guests?” 

“On-one was some long ea-eared guy with some native girl and so-some advance dro-droid.”

“Ratchet!” Talwyn shouted from the worker-bot’s description. Marc turned his head over to her and put his cigarette back in between his teeth. 

“Well things got a little more interestin’ it seems. I shall inform Lania about this. She has a right to know.” He took the robot out of his employee’s hands as he opened the steel door. “Keep an eye on these two, would you?”

“Will do, sir.”

Marc eyed Talwyn and Clank one last time before leaving the room. “I’ll be back for you two later. Don’t try anythin’ stupid now, ya hear?” He then slammed the door shut, as the guard gave them an amused glare…

* * *

 

Ratchet and Nefarious reached the cave door again, noticing that the passage through the rock they’d formed was still not patched up. The robot walked out of it, while Ratchet took notice of a small sign hanging by the knob reading  _ ‘Under Maintenance’ _ as he followed letting out a light laugh. “Heh, seems like they picked up on the damage.”

Nefarious just rolled his eyes. “Can we please get this over with? The sooner we’re done, the better.”

Both walked through the jungle. Nefarious was about to set foot on the factory grounds until Ratchet pulled him out of the way by his wing. “GAH!” He turned over to the Lombax. “What was that abou-”

Ratchet pointed to a bunch of robotic guards with a knightly armored appearance as they hid behind a tree. Both the sentinels kept a lookout while they conversed with each other.

"The Data Room in the South Wing has just been updated,” one of them said.  “Wonder what’s new?"

“Heh, all I know is that it is off limits to all personnel other than the scientists and data miners,” the other one replied. “The ones who were downloading torrents and playing games had to ruin it for the rest of us!”

“Hey, you were one of them!”

“Oh shut up, I can’t help that Fongoid Magic Adventure is addictive!”

“You put a month's pay into it!” 

Ratchet leaned over to Nefarious, whispering softly. “We need to find another way inside.”

“Anything you have in mind?”

“Hmm,” Ratchet pondered as he tried to think of a plan.

“Wait!” The mad android said with inspiration.

“What?”

“I’ve got an idea!” his tone became sinister as he rubbed his hands together, contemplating his evil scheme.  “A wonderfully wicked idea…”

“Why is it that I have a really bad feeling about this…?”

* * *

 

As the guards continued to keep watch, they heard a disturbance from behind the trees…

“Yoo-hoo! Over here!” Nefarious cheerfully bellowed a few feet away from them, as the guards just stared him down. “We're totally existent!”

“Halt!” One of them replied. “You are in a restricted area! Stay where you are or we shall use force!”

“Oh, I am  _ so  _ scared!”

“Don’t test us!”  They raised their guns at him, taking aim.  “Now, come quietly with your hands above your head!”

“You think you can give me orders?” Nefarious demanded while taunting them with a twirl and a slap of his rump.

The sentries immediately opened fire on the robot as he kept ducking and dodging the shots.

“HA! You can’t get me!”

As they were occupied with the hologram, the real Nefarious and Ratchet started to sneak into an entrance without being spotted.

“Hope its batteries are fully charged…” Ratchet said.

“Don’t worry,” Nefarious replied back, “It will last for hours.”

Finally getting inside, they started to walk through the hallways, observing the architecture. It had a medieval look to it with the walls painted a gray and red color scheme as chains decked the halls; but it still felt modern as the halls were bright and lit with high tech machinery that the two were familiar with. 

“Someone seems to be fond of gothic architecture.”

“Uh-huh,” Nefarious just looked down at the Lombax, not caring. “So, now what?”

“Well, did you hear what those two guards were talking about?”

“Yeah, something about some data room being off limits due to idiots playing games.”

“That, but I was more referring to something mentioned about it being updated?” Ratchet looked around, seeing if the coast was clear. “C’mon, they said it was in the South Wing.”

“I just hope you know what you’re doing, Squishie.” Nefarious said in a rounded, yet worried tone.

“Hey, I’ve broken into your space station and your outpost on Zanifar, not to mention your ‘impenetrable’ base on Aquatos. C’mon, you know breaking and entering is a cinch for me.”

The robot sighed. “Whatever; just don’t get us killed.”

“I’m more concerned you’ll manage to get  _ yourself _ killed…”

* * *

 

“GAH!” The guards still were trying to take down the Nefarious hologram, oblivious to its true nature. “Why won’t you  _ die _ ?!!”

"Yoo-hoo! Over here!”

“Stop saying that, you already said that ten times!”

“Umm,” one of them spoke out. “Do you find it quite odd that this guy kept saying the same lines so many times?”

“Yeah, and it’s getting on my nerves!” he dropped his gun and ran up to it with a laser sword. “Now I got-”

When he swung the blade, the watch guard went through the hologram, falling flat on his face.

“We're totally exist-”

The decoy disappeared and the knightly robot shifted his gaze to his colleague. “It was a decoy!” He growled in frustration.

“That means the real one must be on factory grounds!” The other guard ran up and let his hand out, helping his partner up. “Should I send out the TTD?”

“Yes, that would be a great idea. We should inform the Empress about this as well.”

They called upon the Thermal Trail Detector, and it came hovering right to the security droid.

“Seek out the trespassers.”

With that, the TTD followed Ratchet's heat signature. One of the guards had remembered that the worker bot said two of the invaders were organic. Assuming that at least one of them had returned, it would be able to track it down. It flew outside and into the factory, while the two guards contacted HQ not too far from where they were…

* * *

 

“So,” Nefarious spoke with Ratchet as they paced through the halls, “do you think we’ll find anything useful in this data room?”

“Maybe,” the Lombax replied.  “Most of these evil villains seem to have their data lying out in the open anyways.”

“What is that suppose to mean?”

“What? Did I offend?”

The robot snarled. “Hopefully we find something worthwhile. Otherwise it was pointless coming here.”

The TTD perused the hallways, beeping more loudly and quickly as it got closer to the intruders. Ratchet’s ears popped up as heard it behind him. “Did you hear that?”

Nefarious listened closely.  As they talked to each other, the TTD rounded the corner up in front of them. Both looked at it as it stopped, still beeping.

_ ‘Intruder alert! Intruder alert! All security personnel to the South Wing!’ _

It started to go berserk with the sound of alarms. Both of them held their hands to their ears as it pierced through the whole building.

“What is that?!” Ratchet said.

“Freaking annoying, that’s what!” Nefarious replied. He whacked it with his fist, causing it to lose control and slam into the wall into little pieces.

A group of guards came around the bend, the totalled TTD’s scattered pieces crunching beneath their footfalls.  They all had their weapons raised and aimed at Ratchet and Nefarious.

“Stop! You are trespassing on Neoprine Empire grounds!”

Both tried running the other way, only leaving them greeted by more soldiers as they were cornered.

“So what now, Lombax?” 

“Well, there’s not much we can do,” Ratchet took out his wrench, holding a combat position. “You could try and negotiate with 'em. I'll use my OmniWrench, how about you?”

“Lasers probably, they make everything better.” Nefarious cracked a malevolent grin as he fired up some energy from his hands. “Never thought I would have to fight alongside someone I hate, but I guess I’ll let it slide this time.”

“There’s a first for everything.” Both of them smiled at each other and nodded, then turned back at the guards.

Security put their hands on the triggers. “Come quietly and we will not cause ha-“

Nefarious fired his lasers at the group, torching the front line and causing the sentry bots to erupt in flames.  The others backed away, firing their weapons at Nefarious who ducked every shot fired at him.

Ratchet flipped out of the line of fire, successfully landing a swipe from his wrench mid-jump and knocking over one of the sentries.  The robot tumbled into his fellow sentinel who toppled over to the next, causing a line of robots to collapse like a row of dominoes.  After successfully clearing a path Ratchet and Nefarious ran through the opening in the enemy lines and the remaining troops pursued them.

“We need to find a way to lose them!” Ratchet said

“Any ideas?”

Both turned to their right, running into a room and slamming the door shut behind them. Ratchet locked it and then took a chair, putting it under the knob, unwilling to take any chances. He took a quick glance around him.

“Great, we’re trapped…”

“Hey, it’s your fault why we turned this way, you idiot! Why’d we come here in the first place?”

“Don’t worry; we’ll find a way out without bumping into them again.” They found themselves surrounded by computers and other technical equipment. “Well, looks like luck got us stuck in the data room.”

“Excellent…” He replied in a malevolent tone, rubbing his hands together. Nefarious walked over to one of the computers; examining what it had on it with the keyboard.

“Interesting…” he said to himself.

“What is?” Ratchet turned around to the robot.

“It seems to have some fascinating data on here, most notably about some kind of research on dimensional travel.” He turned over to the Lombax.  “Seems like you weren’t crazy after all…”

“Dimensional travel? Can you expand on what kind of research?”

“Not really, the files are locked.”

“Well, do you think you can hack into the system?"

“I suppose I can, may be tricky though.” Nefarious cracked his knuckles. “Well, time to freshen up the old hacking skills.” He started to type at mach speed on the keyboard, hoping to unlock the data they needed. “I remember trying to hack into the school computer system to alter Qwark’s grades back in ninth grade. Turned out I didn’t need to; they were all terrible as it was!”

“Hey!” one of the guards wailed behind the door. “You have entered a room with classified information! Come out with your hands up or we have to force ourselves in there!!”

“Crap.” Ratchet turned over to the doctor, who was still trying to hack in. “Any luck?”

“Almost in…”

“Keep going,” Ratchet said, “That research could be our ticket outta here.”

“Out of this mess you've landed us in?”

“No, I meant this dimension.”

“Oh, right.” Nefarious searched the files, and found something. He pulled up some blueprints onto the large monitor in front of them

"What's that?" Ratchet asked.

“It appears to be the blueprints for technology to allow dimensional travel.”

“How do you know that?”

“It says so at the top there. See?”

Ratchet looked up and saw a title reading “Experiential Dimension Travelling Technology. Oh, right!”

Nefarious put a floppy disk in one of the slots. “I'm downloading it now.” He turned to Ratchet. “Do you think they developed this stuff on their own?”

“I don't think so,” said Ratchet, looking at the bottom right corner of the image. “There's a note here that suggests otherwise.”

“What's it say?”

Ratchet's eyes widened. “It says that it was based on technology  _ borrowed _ from a Dimensionator!”

“ _ A _ Dimensionator?! You mean there's several of those fashion violating things?!”

Banging came from the door and the two quickly turned around; surprised by the sudden thump. The troops were trying to barge their way in, concerning Ratchet. “Um, how much longer will it take to download the data?”

“Not so sure, taking quite a while as it is.” Nefarious replied. “Give it an hour or so?”

“We don’t have an hour, Nefarious…”

The door started to be hard-pressed, as they were about to penetrate through the entrance.

“Nefarious…?”

“Hey, it’s starting to move a bit quicker now, still will need more time though!”

“They are about to break in!” the Lombax panicked, hoping that it would finish downloading already.

“Then  _ try _ to stall them until it’s done, I have no control over these things!!”

There was an explosion from the other side, causing the door to be blown out of the way and into the computer monitor as the troops started scampering in.

“Did that do anything?!” Ratchet distressed to Nefarious.

“No, the download’s still going! Just... try going with the stall plan!”

Ratchet raised his wrench once again, biting down on his teeth.

“Don’t know how long I can, though…”

* * *

 

The guard kept a good eye on both Talwyn and Clank, though he didn’t consider them a threat. How could a young girl and a toaster be any more dangerous to him or the rest of the workers here?

Clank whispered over to Talwyn, both glad to hear that Ratchet was all right.

“He cannot be far.”

“Yeah,” Talwyn quickly replied back. “But how are we going to meet up with him?” She nodded her head in the direction of the guard.  “He’s blocking the door and there’s nothing in the room that we can use to our advantage.”

“That I am unsure of…”

Both geared their eyes back over to the heavy man watching over them.

“I think I may have an idea, Clank.”

“What is it you have planned?”

She looked around the room one last time, and cleared her voice before she spoke.

“Um, excuse me?”

The guard quickly raised his chin, greeting her with an unpleasant stare. “What d’ya want, little girl?”

“Erm, I need to use the restroom,” Talwyn said, crossing her legs.

“Argh,  _ seriously _ ?!” He shifted his sight over to Clank. “What about the little guy?”

“My oil needs… changing.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine, c’mon…” He waved his hand to both of them as the two got up, leading the prisoners to the restroom. “Just make sure to make it quick, I don’t have all day.”

They walked through the hallways without saying a word until they stopped right outside the lavatory door.

“You go first little girl, and make it snappy!”

Talwyn gave him a fierce look as she walked inside. Within, she took a good look around, and started to analyze the place for some way of escape, with no luck.

There were no windows whatsoever, the ventilation ducts were welded shut, and a Qwark-style escape down the toilet wasn’t possible due to the size of the pipes, even for Clank.

“Are you ok in there? Ya sure taking a long time.”

“Um, yes, just having a bit of plumbing issues.”

“Whatever.”

Clank looked up to the guard while he had his back turned. His hand formed into his Geolaser and he took aim. The little droid then zapped him.

“Eeoww!!!” He cried out. “What the-” Rapidly, he turned around, seeing the gun within Clank’s hand. “Why you little!”

Clank ran down the halls as the guard followed, trying to distract him. Hopefully, it would give Talwyn more time…

* * *

 

Talwyn didn’t know what to do. There was absolutely no way to flee and they were running out of options.

She heard yelling outside the bathroom, causing her to quickly run to the door. She hid behind the wall as she peeked through the crack, hoping to get a glimpse.

Clank was still keeping the guard busy, giving another zap from his laser this time in the foot. “Come back here you little-AH!”

Talwyn rushed back in and looked around the bathroom. Lying on the ground, there was a thick plastic pole in her sight. She picked it up, and quickly ran out of the room.

The guard finally managed to get a hold of Clank, his hand grasped tightly around the little robot’s neck.  With his other hand he pulled a gun from a holster on his side.

“Ha, cute little plan you had there, buddy,” The blaster he held was aimed at the android's head, with the guard holding a big, evil grin on his mug. “Didn’t think that girl and you would try to outwit me, but I guess I was wrong. After I kill you, I’ll do the same wit-”

The next thing he knew, he was seeing stars causing him to let go of Clank, who landed safely on his feet as the guard fell down with a  _ thump _ .

Talwyn dropped the pole and ran over to her friend. “Clank, you okay?!”

“Yes, I am fine. Thank you…”

“C’mon, we should get out of here before more guards come.” Talwyn grabbed the little robot by the hand and put him on her back. “I hope you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. In fact, I am quite used to it.”

Before they started to run off, Talwyn took eye of the guard’s firearm that was lying on the floor beside him. She picked it up, and put it right in her gun pouch.

“Let’s hope we can get to Ratchet before they do…”

* * *

 

“Ah!”

Ratchet was slammed into the wall as he breathed heavily. He picked up his wrench again, gearing his eyes back over to Nefarious. “How much time left?  I don’t know how long I can keep this up!”

“Almost done…”

“I hope you’re right about that.” The Lombax tried to lead the security bots into a corner so he could fight them more easily. Seeing a gun on the floor, he picked it up and put his finger on the trigger, as the large blast from the laser caused them to fall flat to the ground.

Nefarious watched the screen, as the meter was almost to one-hundred percent. “Come on, come on…” His words followed a ring from the computer, as he jumped up.

_ *Download complete. Please don’t leave any data storage drives unattended. We are not accountable for any lost items. We will laugh at your incompetence, though* _

“Yes!” He quickly took the disk out of the slot, and put it away. “Ok, I got-AH!!”

One of the security guards shoved into Nefarious by accident, pushing him into a wall and hitting a big, red button on the control panel, as flashing red lights filled the building.

_ *Thank you for activating the Self Destruct Mechanism. This factory will detonate in about five minutes . If I were you, I would think about spending your time meaningfully and wisely.* _

“Oh crap!” The guards started to run out of the room, trying to flee before the structure exploded. Ratchet snarled at the mad robot, not at all pleased.

“Good going, toaster head!”

“It was an accident!” He started to panic. “What’s the point of  _ even _ having those things, anyways?!! Some idiot is going to set it off!!!”

“Yup.   _ Some _ idiot.”  Ratchet let out a frustrated growl as he forced himself to end the argument there.  They needed to evacuate.  Preferably while they were still alive.

“Besides, you're the one who actually spends time  _ with _ a toaster!”

_ *Four minutes left until total annihilation.  Unless you have a death wish, I advise leaving sooner rather than later.  Preferably now.* _

They both started running the hallways, desperate to reach the exit in time. “Let’s just hope you didn’t completely screw us over…”

* * *

 

Marc was still discussing the matter of what happened yesterday with the worker-bot, repairing him throughout the interrogation.

“So, let me get this straight. A local, a furball and their walkin’ radio spied on the factory, but you have no reason why?”

“No sir, not a clue.”

“Do you at least know how they got there?”

“Same answer, sir.”

The Levisian just sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to get any more info out of him. He just shook his head putting his screwdriver down, annoyed. “This week’s just been gettin’ better and better.”

A knock was heard from the door. “Come in…”

One of the cloaked figures from the other day stepped into the room.  They removed their hood, revealing a young Blaargian girl beneath it.  She couldn’t be any younger than a teenager.  “Is this a bad time, sir?”

He looked at her, confused. “Murka, why are you here?”

“I was advice to come here daily. Didn’t Lania tell you that?”

“Oh yeah, right, another babysittin’ job, I forgot…”

“You don’t sound too thrilled to see me. And you aren’t babysitting me anymore than I seem to have to babysit most of the adults.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill; don’t need you to explain it again to me.” He sighed.  “Sorry kid, not in the best of moods. If I’m puttin’ my anger out on you, my apologies.” He walked away from the table the worker bot was sitting on, holding a small smile “What do you need?”

She kept her blank look as she spoke softly. “Nothing really. Other than the norm.”

“Any luck findin’ that Core thing?”

“Nope. I have a feeling that it’s not here though, or in this dimension.”

“Guessin’ that means you’ll be movin’ on this time tomorrow then?”

“What? You’ll miss me-” She was interrupted by a beeping sound from a disk in her cloak pocket. She picked it up, and a hologram appeared of Lania.

“Yes, my lady?” Murka asked.

“You said you wanted to speak to me about something?” Lania said.

“Yes, I did.” Murka walked out of the room to continue the conversation in private. “I’m  sorry about that my lady, I was just reporting in.”

“Understandable. So, what is it you wanted? I am a bit busy at the moment, so I can’t talk for long.”

“Well,” Murka spoke. “Our search for the Core hasn't gotten far here in this dimension. I know you mentioned Ranvier said there were traces of Zoni technology here but we couldn’t find any. Other scouts you sent informed us of the same results.”

Lania just sighed in annoyance. “Is that all?”

“No, my lady, I have some good news.”

“…go on?”

“I believe you sent an agent over to planet Torren IV, dimension 3XTE a few days ago, right?”

“Yes, I sent Flint Vorselon over there.”

“Well, your scouts were close. It’s definitely somewhere in the Polaris Galaxy.”

This new information seemed to please the empress. “Have you figured out where?”

“No, but we’re narrowing it down to a few selected planets. I shall inform you in the upcoming days.”

“Very well, is that all?”

“For now, yes.”

“Well, thank you for the update, dear. Keep up the good work,” Before Lania was about to sign off, she turned her attention to Murka one more time. “And speaking of Flint, if you happen to bump into him, tell him that we learned about some Lombax sneaking around the factory on that island yesterday. He said he wanted to take care of it ‘personally’ or something.”

“I shall inform him about it if I see him, my lady.”

“Thank you Murka. Lania out.”

Her hologram disappeared and Murka put the disk back into her pocket, and before she was about to return to Marc, she heard yelling from the other room…

“What do you mean the prisoners escaped?! How can some girl and her toaster take you off guard?!!”

“I-I’m sorry sir,” The guard replied on a small TV screen, “I didn’t think it would happen either.”

“Augh!” He pulled the hair on the top of his head from stress, having a few strains in his hands. He then started to stomp away from the monitor, picking up a gun as he was about to run out the door. He turned around before leaving, popping out one more question. “Did you set the alarms at the very least?”

“Yes sir, I did.”

“Good.” Marc went right out the door, slamming it shut as he passed by the girl. She just looked at him pacing fast with a small smirk on her face.

“Long day yourself, Mr. Ramrock?”

“Not now kid...”

* * *

 

_ *The coffee vending machine has run out of cappuccino. Oh, and there is one minute until self-destruction. If you haven’t gotten out already, you are surely screwed.* _

Ratchet’s and Nefarious’ time was about to run out. They wouldn’t make it to the front gate in time, and they had very little alternatives left.

“This is entirely your fault, Lombax!!”

“You’re the one who landed on the button, rust bucket!!”

“You forced me to com-”

“Wait!” Ratchet shouted and pointed to a small window leading back outside. “We got to jump!”

“ _ What?! _ ” The robot balked at the idea. “Are you trying to get us killed?!”

“There aren’t any other choices we have left…”

_ *Thirty seconds until self-destruct.* _

Ratchet took a quick scan around the room, and then turned over to Nefarious. “…Unless you want to become scrap metal…”

_ *Twenty seconds until self-destruct.* _

Both looked at each other, and then back at the window. “I think I may become that either way…”

“It’s now or never.”

_ *Ten seconds until self-destruct. Nine, Eight…* _

“Never thought I'd die with a Squishie.”

“How about dying with a friend?”

_ *Seven, six, five…* _

“Nope, didn't think that either.”

“Neither did I, actually…”

_ *Four, three…* _

And then they both leaped out of the window and plummeted below.

_ *Two, one, zero. The Self Destruct Mechanism has been activated, have a nice day.* _

An explosion erupted all over the building, blowing up everything inside. Debris flew all over the place as the two were still plunging downward.  They were engulfed with fear as they gripped each other tightly, screaming as they continued to torpedo to the ground.

“Oh my Zoni, we’re going to  _ die _ !!!”

Nefarious was so scared that he accidentally triggered the jets in his boots, causing them both to float gently down to the ground, neither one of them aware they were safe on the soil until Ratchet opened one of his eyes. He opened the other one and sighed in relief.

“Well, would you look at that.” The Lombax raised an eyebrow at Nefarious, who still shaking from horror. "Uh, Nef, you're a bit close to me right now."

Nefarious opened his eyes in shock, and let go immediately as he jumped into the air and fell onto the dirt. “Ah!!” He backed away a bit. “Let us never mention this again!”

They looked around the area, viewing what was left of the factory with the remains flung all over the place. The robot just laughed, as he quickly got off the earth, rubbing the dirt off of him. "Well, now that we've averted that disaster…”

“Halt!” said a robotic voice a short way away from them.

Factions of troops were circled around the heroes, blocking their path and any route of escape. All were holding up their guns, pointing them right at the pair. Both the Lombax and robot took one step back, with Ratchet taking out his wrench.

Nefarious sighed. “This again…” He roared up some dark matter in his hands. “So, which side do you want to take?”

Ratchet looked up to him. “I’ll take the left, you take the right.”

“Works for me…”

* * *

 

Clank stuck his finger into the panel's port and searched the computer while Talwyn attempted to hold off the guards.

“HA, you're cornered now, baldie! That terminal is protected with a Level Nine Access Protocol! It would take a computer with an IQ of 3 billion several thousand light years to hack through that kind of security!”

“Uh, sir,” a fellow guard pointed out, “light years measures distance, not time.”

“Shut it, you!”

“Clank,” Talwyn whispered, “how far are you in hacking the pad?”

“Zero point two percent.”

“Ugh, this is taking too long. Stand back Clank!” Clank hopped off of the security panel and cleared the way for her to shoot her blaster at it. The door retracted up, allowing Clank and Talwyn to escape. 

“They’re escaping! After them!!” 

They all ran throughout the jungle, searching for their prisoners only to just pass them as Talwyn and Clank hid in a ditch off of the trail. After a while, once it had quieted down, the two emerged to find the coast was clear.

“I believe we have lost them.”

“Let’s hope it remains that way.” Talwyn sighed in relief. “Now that we’re out of their clutches, let's find Ratchet. I know he can’t be far…”

“May want to reconsider changin’ your plans then.” 

They turned around. Their eyes caught Marc, aiming a gun as he blew smoke out of his mouth from a newly lit cigarette.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Talwyn said in frustration.

“Now, now, we don’t want to cause any trouble. We may have some bad blood but I don’t want any harm to come to either of you, Miss.  So why don’t you two come with me, and maybe we can discuss things in a more...  _ civil _ matter?”

They took a step backwards until they reached the edge of the cliff. The girl grew uneasy due to the fact they didn’t have anywhere else to sprint to. Talwyn looked at Clank, and nodded and took out her pistol, aiming it at Marc. “We’re not going anywhere…” she said.

The spy followed her statement with a small laugh and a smile. “You sure have one big spark, Miss; I’ll give you that. But,” He put his figure on the trigger, “If I have to take you in by force, I-AH!!”

Before he could fire his weapon, he was shot in the kneecap by Talwyn, causing him to drop his gun as he held his wound.  “Oh you - GAH!”

“You made one of the biggest mistakes a villain can make,” Clank replied from behind him, “Your speech went on for too long. Hee hee hee hee.”

“GAH, damn it!!”

Talwyn and Clank started to run off the other way, as Marc could only watch them leave. “Hey!  C’mon Miss, don’t be like that! I’m just doin’ my job!” He got up slowly, but the bleeding was slowing him down as he tried to catch up. “ _ Ah _ , screw it. I don’t get paid enough for this crap…”

* * *

 

A pile of guards were a few inches away from the two, letting out a chorus of pained moans. Nefarious rubbed his hands together, letting out a small, evil laugh. “That was fun! Can we do it again?”

Ratchet stroked the sweat from his forehead, exhausted as he leaned on his wrench. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

“I need to do this more often,” Nefarious replied, as he stretched out his arms, “though, not alongside a Squishie.”

The Lombax just rolled his eyes, and just as he was about to walk again, his pupils widened…

A new batch of troops came running their way. Nefarious was just dumbfounded by the new arrivals. “How many of these guys are there? Seriously, do you always have to put up with this?!”

“Welcome to my life, and hey, didn’t you have an army once?”

A portal then opened behind the army and a huge mech stepped out of it. The pilot quickly took notice of the two and locked on to its target before coming on the loudspeaker.

“New orders from the General. Destroy target on sight.”

And with that, the machine guns attached to the mech’s arms took aim and fired on them. The rest of the soldiers followed their orders and Ratchet and Nefarious jumped out of the way. The doctor fired his lasers at the army, taking down enough enemies to allow the pair time to take shelter.

They both hid behind a rock. Ratchet poked his head out for a second to get another glimpse. “Well this is going to be a pain to take down”   
  
“This pathetic piece of machinery is nothing in comparison to the VX-99.”   
  
“You’re acknowledging the fact I totally decimated that thing?”   
  
“What?!  Of course not!!  I’m merely pointing out a fact!”   
  
“Which is totally non-applicable in this scenario unless you’re referring to the time I blew up the object in question.”  
  
“You are losing focus of the matter at hand!  My lasers need to recharge after using them for the last hour and the dark matter bombs are getting low. Gotta reserve them.”

“Wait,  _ you’re  _ low on  _ supplies _ ?!”

“Well, if we were at my space station we could resto-oh wait, you destroyed that months ago and we’re in the middle of nowhere!! What, you think I just pull these things out of my ass?”

“Well, you do sorta-”

“W _ e’re _ surrounded by goons and  _ this _ is what you want to argue about?!”

”If it makes you feel better, it’s not like I’m full of bullets myself right now.”

“So I guess we’re screwed.”

Ratchet turned around for a quick second but it didn’t take him long to go back into hiding as a blaster bolt barely hit him. His teeth bit down hard as he winced before facing Nefarious. “Yeah, we’re totally screwed.”

“Wonderful...”

 

* * *

 

Talwyn and Clank followed the path down to the factory grounds. It wasn’t long until they heard gun fire below them and once the growth widened their sight; they found the source. 

“Talwyn, look, I see Ratchet,” Clank pointed downward seeing their friend still hiding behind the boulder which was weathering down from the gun force of the mech. The robot then took notice of who was next to him. “And….is that Doctor Nefarious?”

“Nefarious? Why would he be with Ratchet?”

“I do not know, but either way we must help them.”

“I agree; but,” Talwyn jerked her head over to the mech, “How are we gonna get pass that?”

 

* * *

 

 

Their cover finally shattered and left them open to fire.   
  
The two turned around. “Oh. Super.” Ratchet didn’t even bother to cover the deadpan in his voice.   
  
Nefarious just sighed. “Well, I guess there are worse ways to go…”   
  
The mech pointed its guns in the direction of the two. “Locked onto target. Prepare to-”   
  
“AH!”   
  
The soldier in the mech turned around in response to his comrade’s scream.  The foot soldier was trying to dodge gunfire raining from above.  His attempts were futile as a blaster shot ripped through his head and he landed dead on his back. The surviving soldier turned his attentions to the sky where Talwyn descended via Clank’s heli pack off the rubble.   
  
“Halt,” the mech’s weapons pointed up, “You are trespassing on-!”   
  
With a thump she landed right on the mech’s hatch, using her gun to break the glass. As it shattered, the soldier just glared up at her.   
  
“Oh,” the monotone voice of the mech droned.   
  
Talwyn then threw the soldier right out of the mech and she climbed into the cockpit. Clank hopped off of her back. “Do you know how to control this machine?”   
  
“Nope, not a clue. I’ll just do what Ratchet does and wing it…”

“Clank, Talwyn?!” Ratchet shouted

With a press of a button on the handles, the gun rattled all over the battlefield taking down soldiers with it as Talwyn tried to gain back control.

The lombax saw the bullets flying within Nefarious and his direction. “Get down!!” They both scattered to the wind and rolled out of the way as the robot just glared up at the girl in the mech.

“Be more careful, you moron!”

Talwyn didn’t bother to respond as she was too focused on figuring out how  _ not _ to get herself killed trying to drive this thing. It didn’t take long until she started to move the thing as the mech stepped down on its opponents. “Ratchet, where are you?!”

“I’m over here!!” Ratchet waved over to her in hope she or Clank spotted him.

Both passengers looked around until Clank found where the Lombax was shouting from. “Ratchet!”

“Yeah, I see him,” Talwyn went back to the controls. “I’m coming over, just hold-”

It wasn’t long until more portals opened up behind them as three more mechs approached. Talwyn just growled in frustration. 

“This has gone on long enough!” One of the soldiers in the mech spoke, “Lower your weapons and step out of the mech!”

She put her hand on the trigger and prepared to fire but was met with nothing but clicks. She was out of ammo. “uh-oh…”

“Step out of the mech! This is your final warning!”

She bit her lip. Talwyn’s eyes shifted all over the place. It wasn’t until she spotted a button on the dashboard that read ‘unleash hell’ on it. 

“Clank, I think I’m about to do something  _ really _ stupid.” She quickly turned around. “Ratchet, take cover!”

“What?!” Ratchet didn’t argue further however and heeded her warning. “Nefarious-”  
  
“Yeah, I heard,” Nefarious was already hiding behind debris from the factory as Ratchet followed.

Talwyn sighed. “I hope I don’t regret this…” She then slammed her fist on the button and all of a sudden the mech’s lights turned red.

_ *Unleash Hell protocol activated. Stand by for complete whoop ass.* _

A hatch behind the cockpit opened and not a second too soon, so many rockets flew up in the air that it was hard to keep count. None of the troopers had time to react.

“Oh shi-”

The rockets rained down from above on their foes as explosions went off all around them. They all closed their eyes and put their hands over their ears from the sound.

Moments passed and it became quiet. After the dust cleared, Talwyn and Clank opened their eyes and took notice of the surrounding area...

There was nothing but scrap around them as the enemy mechs were destroyed and the foot soldiers either scattered to the wind or their pieces littered the place.  

“...well then…”

Talwyn climbed out of the cockpit with Clank and onto solid ground.  She looked around for Ratchet before spotting him. “Ratchet!” The two ran up to him.

“Man, am I glad to see you tw-” Ratchet didn’t get to finish his words as Talwyn ran into him and she wrapped her arms around him. 

“You had me worried Ratchet. We were looking for you for days and-”  
  
“I know,” The lombax embraced her lightly, “I was worried about you too, Tal.”

_ “Ahem…” _

Their reunion was interrupted by Nefarious. They both let go as they turned to where he was stomping his foot.

“Sorry to interrupt your Hallmark moment, but don’t you two think this isn’t the time or place?”

Talwyn just glared him down. It wasn’t until Clank spoke that she snapped out of it. “Doctor Nefarious? Why are you-”

“He’s right though,” Ratchet butted in, “This isn’t the place to have this conversation. There could be more guards down our throats any second. We should get somewhere safe.”

“Agreed.” The little robot nodded as they took their leave…

* * *

 

The four found themselves back in the cavern as they stolled through the darkness with Nefarious charging up his lasers just enough to light the way. The girl and Clank were still baffled about why the mad doctor was with Ratchet to begin with...

“So, you going to explain him,” Talwyn pointed at Nefarious, “or...”

“It’s a long story.”

“Not like we’re going anywhere Ratchet. Unless the Neoprine send out a search party, whoever they may be.”

“Yeah, the guards may have dropped the name a few times.”

“Hm,” Clank broke his silence as he looked over to Nefarious, “Perhaps you wish to share your reason for fighting alongside us Doctor?”

Nefarious rolled his eyes. “Long story short: I landed here, he was right beside me, can’t get home so decided to stick around until we figure out how.”

“Even if it means working with an organic?” 

“So I’m being a bit more flexible than normal. Trust me, if things were different; he’d be dead.”

“Oh c’mon Nefarious. It’s not like you’d be lost without me.”

“Shut it, Lombax.”

“ _ Anyways _ , we should head back to Jens’ place.”

“Jens?” Talwyn looked baffled.

“Oh, she’s a local who let us crash at her place the last few days. Doubt she’ll have a problem with two more guests.”

“At least she sounds like a better host than the one Clank and I had.” 

“Is that how you heard about the Empire?”

“Pretty much. The next thing we know we’re held captive by someone working under Empress Lania.”

“Lania? Have you learned anything else?”

“Other than her title, your guess is as good as mine. You think that’s who Vorselon is working for?”

“Maybe. We’ll figure it out later.”

“Please tell me you don’t want to still seek him out.” Nefarious added.

“No, but he knows more about what’s going on than any of us. Though with our luck, we’ll bump into him sooner or later..”

The four finally left the cave and started to head back to Jens’ house as Nefarious let the power from his hand die out.

“So what about you, Ratchet?” Talwyn asked, “You learn anything?”

“Yeah. Whatever reason it may be, this empire has their hands on Dimensionator technology.”

“Dimensionator? You mean they have access to a trans-dimensional hat?”

“Erm, I’d say more of a pocket watch or belt clip but yeah. Nefarious was able to hack and download one of their schematics,” The lombax turned over to Nefarious. “You still got it, right?”

The tall robot took out the floppy, waving it around freely. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it.”

He then looked back the others, “But yeah, It could be our ticket home. If we can replicate the device that is.”

“Device?” Talwyn questioned, stopping in her tracks. “Couldn’t we just find a ship and fly home?”

“Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, Tal. Home is... well, it's further away than you'd think.”

“Another long story I assume.”

They remained quiet for a little bit until a thought popped into Ratchet’s head. “Oh, Clank! About Jens,” he looked down at the small robot, “Don’t be alarmed if she starts freaking out from seeing you.”

“How so?” Clank chirped.

“Well, she can be a bit...  _ eccentric _ .”

“I do not see why that would be a-...”

 

* * *

 

“ _ Aaaah!! _ ” Jens screeched just from the sight of seeing Clank. “Ain’t you just the cutest thing!?!”

“Well, yes I am-”  
  
The next thing Clank knew he was swept off his feet and held tightly within her arms.“Oh, I can just eat you all up!!”

The little robot tried to move within her tight grip as he looked over to Ratchet. “I can see from what you mean by eccentric.”

“Told ya.”

“At least it isn’t me this time,” Nefarious remarked under his breath

“Um, Jens?” Clank tried to squeeze out of her lock, “as much as it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, perhaps a handshake would do just as well…”

“Oh, sorry,” Jens gently put him down and got back up on her feet. “Well then; It’ll be a bit tight; but I’m sure I’ll be able to find the extra room for you two.”

 

* * *

 

Ratchet caught Talwyn and Clank up to speed on the last few days. He talked about all he learned as they tried to wrap their heads around all of the events that took place.

The first thing they did as they walked into Jens house was find a way to make the schematic readable. Jens managed to find an old computer and printer in her attic and after some yelling about how outdated it was, Nefarious managed to get it to work. 

Laying the sheet onto the kitchen table, the five scanned over them. For the foreigners, it was easy to understand. For Jens however; it was as if she was trying to learn another language. Hearing all of this new terminology she questioned how they were able to keep up with all of it.

It hit twilight. Despite her lack of knowledge compared to the other four, Jens wanted to help. Ratchet suggested that perhaps she could go to the village and pick up some of the parts needed for the Dimestatnor. The rest stayed behind. Likely wasn’t the wisest choice to leave her guests by themselves but since three of the four seemed to be stable; she trusted them to at least keep the doctor from setting the roof on fire...

“You think Jens will have no problem finding the stuff we need?” Talwyn poured some juice from the fridge into a glass as she spoke across the room. 

“Hope so. She knows the basic nuts and bolts but we’ll have to lift our weight on the more complex parts. That factory had some advanced tech we’re similar with. That and they were able to build these before. Gotta have something there.”

“You mean the factory we destroyed, right?” Nefarious remarked as he layed on the sofa with his arms and legs stretched out.

“I think you mean that  _ you _ destroyed, Nefarious? There has to be something we can salvage.”

“Would it be safe even going over there?” Talwyn walked back over to the table and pulled out a chair. “It wouldn’t surprise me if this Lania person sent men there to clean up.”

“We’ll have to be careful then. Maybe head over there when it’s sundown.”

“Ratchet?”

“Yes?” Ratchet turned to Clank, who was lifting the blueprints above his head, causing them to flop over him as he read. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing is, I am just examining the draft. This is much more advanced than the Dimensionator you and I found over two years ago.”

“How so? I mean outside of it being miniaturized for wear.”

“Look for yourself.”

He passed the schematics over to Ratchet.  The Lombax only briefly skimmed over the specs before but now he took notice of the structure of it.  On a basic level it was similar to the Dimensionator created by the Lombaxes.  But upon further examination Ratchet realized there were crucial differences.  Aside from the miniaturized design, the device wasn’t limited to use by its wearer.  It could be attached to a vehicle or external device, increasing the transporter’s capacity.

“Hmm,” Ratchet pondered to himself. What really got to him was how this ‘empire’ was able to get a hold of the technology to begin with. It surely couldn’t have been an easy feat.

“Hey, Nefarious?” Ratchet called over to his foe from across the room. “You’re a super villain, right? How would you get your hands on some highly classified blueprints?”

“Well,” The mad scientist rubbed his chin, “first you’ve got to have your plan down, know your motivation and how you want to go forward with it, then get a good team to break into the location where they could, or are holding it, or do it yourself if you are a solo act. There’s a lot more to it, but overall it’s a long progress, why do you ask?”

“Oh, just asking. Trying to figure out something…”

“Just so you know, I have no evil schemes planned at the moment so your ears can stop twitching.”

“I’m more curious how they were even able to get a hold of the data, considering it’s Lombax research.”

“And you think  _ I _ know?” An overconfident smile graced his features, “Though, if they’re anything like me, I’m sure they had some stylish scheme that they pulled off.”

“Yeah Nefarious, very  _ stylish _ …”

“Hey, being a supervillain is just as much an art as it is a job!”

“If you say so…”

Ratchet turned around from the sound of a door creaking as it opened, followed by a light slam.

“Well, I have all the pieces,” said Jens, placing a small sack full of gadgetry trinkets onto the table. “But there was one I couldn’ find.”

“Which one was that?”

“A gear. You wouldn' believe it, but all the shops were out of the size you wanted. Even Cal was sold out. I can perhaps get one ordered for you; but that could take weeks before it even reaches Rado. Otherwise, I haven’ a clue where you’ll be able to find one.”

“Hmmm,” Ratchet looked slyly into Nefarious’ green dome, cracking a wicked grin. “I have a very good idea where…”

Nefarious glared over to Ratchet, seeing the look he held. “Oh no.” He said, getting up in protest. “Oh, no, no no no no no NO!”

“Come on, Nefarious, help out! You've been doing nothing but complain and insult us about our squishiness since we got here-”

“And for _ good reason _ !”

“-don't you think you could try and be more useful?”

“There's a difference between being useful and becoming a used parts outlet! If you honestly believe that-!”

“Yeah, I know, ‘no way would I help a squshie’,” Ratchet attempted to mimic Nefarious’ voice before speaking normally again,  ”But unless we work together, we won’t be able to return home.”

He rolled his eyes. “Still not doing it…”

“Well, if you want to stay here longer, I’m sure Jens wouldn’t mind.”

Nefarious turned over to Jens, giving him a salute with a small innocent smile. The thought of being stuck with them forever was bad enough. Being stuck with  _ her _ however…

“Ergh... argh... orght...” The mad robot contorted his face. He really didn't want to lend his own parts to his mortal enemy. But,if it was to get back home...

Nefarious flipped open his dome and removed the gear. “Fine, here you go, but that voids my warranty. If I break, I'm having you foot the bill!” 

Ratchet held in a cheeky smirk, as Nefarious looked busted up anyway. 

“Not another word…”

Ratchet put the gear onto the table next to the rest of the pieces they were going to use to assemble the device. “Thanks Nefarious, You can be so generous sometimes.”

Nefarious got up, not wanting to stick around any longer.

“Where are you going?” Talwyn asked

“Outside. I'm gonna check to see if I'll still be functional with a piece missing.”

“If we hear an explosion, I call dibs on your left leg!” Jens called out as Nefarious left the door. She then walked over to the table and leaned in. As she hovered over them, she took another look at the blueprints herself out of curiosity. “ _ So _ , you three know what you’re doin’?”

“I think so,” Ratchet answered back.

“I never seen anythin’ like it before. I’m kinda curious what your dimension is like if you can make things like this all on your own.”

“Well, it’s kinda in the blood for me.” Ratchet said. “I think Lombaxes have a knack for building stuff on their own.”

“That is correct.” Clank confirmed. “He once modified me with a Levitator by only reading the first step in a fifty-step instruction manual.  Which was written in Blargian.”

Jens looked over to Ratchet in amazement. “Wow, you do have skills!” she said.

 “You know it!” Ratchet replied.

   Jens put the blueprints back down, as she turned back over to Ratchet. “So, when you plan on headin’ home?”

“That depends. We still have to put it together.”

“Still, wouldn’ want you to remain here too long.”

“Kicking us out already?”

“Of course not! But the house is gettin’ kinda full.”

Ratchet snorted. “Don’t worry, you’ll have your house back soon, I promise.”

“Anyways, I’m gettin’ ready for bed. Tal, I have a spare sleepin’ bag in the attic. It may be a little dusty but with a quick clean up, it’s yours. Or you can have my bed I guess…”

“Thanks Jens, but I’m fine with the bag.”

She gave the other girl a smile. “I’ll go get it then.”

Ratchet yawned as he stretched out his arms. “Yeah, I think I’m gonna hit the hay too. We got a long few days ahead of us.” He started to walk over to his room, and then turned his head around. “I just hope this works out in the end. Don’t know how long I could deal with that rust bucket out there.”

“I heard that!!” came a yell from outside.

Lombax ignored him. “Anyways, night guys...”

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Vorselon was taking care of business. This wretched rat would pay for what he did to him. Yes, he would pay dearly...

_ “Fifteen ninety-five for a cheeseburger?!!” _

“Y-yes, sir, that is the price we are asking,” cried the guy behind the counter, as he shivered.

“Why is your pathetic fast food so expensive?!”

“B-because our food stocks are running low, I-it isn't easy to breed cows you know...”

“Well then stock up on Mootators! I will have this burger for one-fifty and I won't accept anything less!”

A tone ringed to notify him that he had a call. He held up his palm, rolling his eye…

“Who is it?”

“Your empress.”

Vorselon gasped in shock. “Laina! Er, um, what are you calling for?”

“Just wanted to remind you that your target is well-armed, but I can see that you're...  _ busy _ , at the moment. Dining for fast food, are we?”

“Er, no, no not at all!” Vorselon swiped his burger quickly and set it down on a table at to the other end of the store. “But yes, I am aware that he is heavily armed.”

“What the  _ hell _ are you doing in a fast food joint?! You're supposed to be trailing that furball!”

“Er, well, I thought I could do with a break, and, uh-”

“Failure is not an excuse to slack off!”  The empress’s frustration was exacerbated by her dumbfoundedness as she added, “Besides, you're in a tank, how are you supposed to eat anything?!”

The Terraklon stopped fumbling for excuses for his incompetence as he realized his empress was losing her patience. “I'll get back to you when I have killed the Lombax.” Vorselon hung up and opened the panel inside his palm, jerking out the cord that connected to his holophone receiver so he wouldn't be interrupted.  He slithered back over to the table. “Now, I can eat my meal in-” His eye opened wide after seeing his food being devoured by a young Blargian girl.

“Hey! That was my burger,  _ you _ insolent child!”

Murka turned around while chewing on the meat, speaking with her mouth full. “But you refused to pay for it. That guy you yelled at needed to make money too, you know.” She gulped down her food. “Besides, aren’t you a mercenary? I’d think you’d make a good enough living to pay for a small burger…”

He growled in frustration as she finished her last bite. Vorselon lifted the girl up by the collar of her cloak in an attempt to intimidate the girl yet she kept a straight face. “You disrespectful girl, do you not know who you are messing with?! You will pay for-” The girl quickly took out a pocket knife, and put it right in front of his face.

“Unless you want to be a fish out of water, I advise you to let go of me.” The Blaarg gave him a confident smirk. “Not to mention it was only a burger, nothing to get all finicky over, Mr. Vorselon.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “How do you know my name?! Speak, adolescent!” He shook her while asking the question.

“Please put me down,” she replied while drawing her blade closer to him, causing the Terraklon to drop her to the floor, landing on her back.

“As for your question Mr. Vorselon, I happen to be a scout for Empress Lania.” She finally stood up, putting her weapon back into her cloak pouch. “Though, I have to say, you’re not what I was expect-” He bursted out laughing, humoured by Murka’s reply. She eyed him suspiciously, unable to see what was so amusing. 

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s so funny?”

He continued to laugh as he just looked at the girl, pointing. “Aww, that’s just adorable.” He gave her a pat on the head like she was a small puppy before crossing his arms. “Do you honestly believe I'd buy something like that? Tell me your name.”

“Why?”

“So I can find out what kindergarten you’re from. I hear one of them is missing a squirmy little brat who won't act her age!”

She just snickered in amusement. Not the first time someone had mocked her for her age. “Very cute, Mr. Vorselon, but anyways, I am Murka and Lania told me to find you. She informed me you were falling behind your mission. Something about capturing a Lombax, if I’m not mistaken…?”

Vorselon grabbed her from over the table. “ _ No one _ is supposed to know about that mission!!”

“So how do you think I know about it, stupid?” The teen said with calm confidence.

“Because you work fo-” Vorselon stopped mid-sentence. He quickly and simply let go of her. “Right.”

She just rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t know about Lania if I was not working for her, let alone your assignment. It’s not rocket science.” She then moved closer with no regard for his personal space. “Besides, I did take you off guard with that knife, didn’t I? No normal  _ brat _ would be playing with fire; let alone working for a huge evil empire. Unless you know someone I don’t?”

“Pff,” The mercenary pushed her out of the way, causing her to fall back down to the floor as he slithered to the door. “I don’t have my time to waste with you, child. I have a job to do.”

“Doesn’t seem like it’s going so well though,” Getting back up, Vorselon was about to leave the fast food joint before the small voice spoke once more.

“I have to say, Mr. Vorselon, for someone claiming to be a brutal, five star mercenary; you sure do fail at it.”

He turned around quickly, not taking the comment lightly. “Don’t  _ underestimate _ me child, you’re getting on my last nerves and I will not hold back on killing you.”

“Oh, really now?” She put wore a small smirk. “I dare you to even try.”

He looked over at her, as he started to laugh at her challenge. “Hahaha! How cute, the puny little blaarg girl thinks she can beat me, the great Lord Vorselon!! HA! Well, bring it on!”

“Alright,” She reached into her cloak pocket and took hold of a hilt like object. With a press of a button, it expanded and formed a pole, “I could use the exercise.”

He looked over at her weapon. “You seriously think a stick could beat me?”

"I think a toddler can beat you under the right circumstances."

He didn’t hesitate any longer and came hands fluming with electricity at her. “Why you little-!” Because he could even get close enough for the hit, Murka leaped over him with grace and he barely even caught the fact that she was now behind him. “What the-?”

She high kicked with force causing him to lose his balance but swiftly caught it before he landed to the ground. The next thing he knew, she was nowhere in sight.

“Huh?” Vorselon didn’t even realize his tentacles were causing him to turn in a circular pattern. “Where are you, brat?!” The next moment, a whack with her staff hit him in the tank right before she round kicked his suit, sending him fly across the room. She leaped back into the air and with another kick, the weight between his suit and her had them crashing through a wall and right outside the restaurant. 

He skidded on the dirt below before finally coming to a stop. The first thing Vorselon saw once he opened his eye again was Murka above him with the knife end of her staff staring at him straight in the face as she used pressure from her left foot to keep him pinned down. 

“You were saying?” Murka snarked.

He had no words, still baffled on how some teen was able to dominate over him. “How did you-?”

“She wouldn’t send someone inexperienced out here, would she? I have four years of combat training, courtesy of Lania ever since she took me under her wing.  Additionally made sure to read up a bit on reconnaissance.  Not that it’s any of your business.” The teen took her foot off his body and put away her weapon.  “ _ And  _ yes, you did just get bested by a teenage girl, _ I’m very sure  _ you need time to progress that, Mr. Vorselon.”

"You like to deceive people with your meek appearance, don't you?"

Murka snorted from the comment. That was enough of an answer for him. “It’s a good thing this conversation is being recorded and streamed straight to Neoprine headquarters. It comes in handy for when subordinates refuse to do as they are told.” 

Vorselon gave nothing but a growl in response.

“Anyways, I’m off. I promised her that I would return to HQ after I found you. I’m sure Lania will get a kick out the fact I kicked her boyfriend’s ass though. You are dating after all, right?”

The blaarg girl gave a small wave as she walked off and he got back up on his feet. Vorselon crossed his arms.

“Little brat…”

“Um, ex-excuse me, sir?”

“What  _ is _ it?!!” He yelled at the man who spoke to him, still sour he got defeated by a teen.

The restaurant employee was shaking nervously as he noted, “W-well, um, you did leave a bit of a hole there.”

“Your point?!”

“W-well, we may not have the money to fix it and the manager suggested you pay for it.”

Vorselon snarled. “And  _ how _ much money are we speaking of?”

The man handed him a piece of paper with an estimate on it. Vorselon's eye almost burst right out of his head.

_ “FIFTY THOUSAND BOLTS!?!” _

“It is a very high tech table, sir.”

_ “…GAAAAAAH!!!”  _ The scream was so loud that Murka could hear it. She smiled to herself, and walked away…

 

**-End Chapter Five-**


	6. Chapter Six: Goodbyes and a New Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man I almost forgot to post this up on Ao3. I had this up on FF.net since the beginning of the month, so sorry about the wait guys (if you happen to read it on here)  
> Anyways, enjoy

**-Chapter Six, Goodbyes and a New Beginning-**

A few days had passed since they arrived in this dimension. The early morning sun was still climbing over the horizon.

Every day, the crew would wake up before dawn to begin work. From salvaging parts to building the damn thing; it wasn’t an easy task. Especially when their surroundings’ technological ineptitude limiting their supply. Surprisingly though, Nefarious voluntarily chipped in. He was still sour over the fact he was stuck with a bunch of ‘squishies,’ let alone ones he hated; but likely their progress would have been slower without him. If it meant getting home faster, he was willing to put his prejudice aside. He made himself flexible when he tried taking over The Great Clock after all.  If it hadn't killed him then he would survive bending his morals again.

Jens however, couldn’t do much other than get them the parts and tools they needed.This fact left her frustrated, and yet she tried to enjoy the fascination the crazy circumstances caused her.

I mean, It’s not like everyday that you have inter-dimensional beings sitting at your kitchen table working on some do-dad that’s suppose to help them return home. That and she was rapped by Ratchet’s stories about their home and their various adventures. It was one thing she couldn’t keep her mind off of the whole time.... 

* * *

 

Jens was cooking breakfast with Clank, who volunteered to lend a hand.  She even handed him over an oversize apron and chef hat. “How do y’all like your eggs?”

Ratchet turned over to them as he sat at the table with Talwyn. “You know you don’t need to go out of your way Jens to-”

“Hey, I love to cook! Besides,” She gave a hard tap on one of the eggs before breaking the shell as the yolk fell into the scorching pan, “You’ve been workin’ your butts off the last few days. Think you could use a nice meal before you head off…”

“I’m just saying you did more than enough for us.”

“I know, but it’s my treat.”

The lombax shook his head as he returned back to work.

Nefarious rested on the couch as he tuned into Ratchet’s and Talwyn’s conversation. Talwyn was reading off of a list as Ratchet confirmed it…

 “Harmonic Stabilizers...”

“Check!”

“Ion capacitors?”

“Check!”

“1 1/4 Centicubit Hexagonal Washer?”

“Erm... uh...” Ratchet looked inside the machine. “I don't think it's in there. Where is it?” He looked under, around and behind him.

“Er, Ratchet?” said Talwyn

“What?”

She simply pointed to Ratchet's tail. There it was, hanging off of it. “Heheh, whoops. Must have put it there so I'd remember where it was.” The Lombax then put the washer inside, gave it a few turns with his wrench, and closed the hatch in the back.

“That went well, didn't it?” He put the pocket Dimensionator on the counter, along with his wrench before turning over to Talwyn. “All the pieces are installed. Well, all the pieces we can get anyway.”

“Breakfast is ready!” Jens shouted across the room as she carried two plates in her hands while Clank held another. She laid Ratchet’s and Talwyn’s plates on the table as she sat right beside them and Clank handed her the last one. “So you finished it?”

“Yup. Well, for the most part anyways.”

“What do you mean for the  _ most  _ part?” Nefarious got up and walked over, “I looked over the whole draft, we have  _ all _ the parts!”

“We don’t have a ship.”

“A  _ ship _ ?” He spun around to look for the schematic and he picked it up to read over it. “Why would we need a ship!?”

“To get home…”

Nefarious peeked through the paper. “ _ Wasn’t _ the point of building this device to return home..?”

“Yeah. But the device on its own won't get us very far.”

Nefarious crossed his arms as he raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, the Dimensionator alone can only take one or two people with it, and we can’t make another wormhole once we are back home for the others to pass through, but-”

“Meaning?” Nefarious interrupted.

“I’m about to get to that. But, the device is able to connect and work with transportation, such as cars, ships and the like-”

“Meaning?”

“ _ Meaning _ if I could install it into Aphelion, I can hopefully use a ship as a loophole and travel with as many people as can fit in one. That way when I come back here I can pick you up.”    


“With the key word being ‘hopefully’.  What if this fails?”    


“Then you’ll most likely be stuck here. Though,” Ratchet gave a blunt tone, “That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea. Saves us some stress.” 

  
“Hey! We had a deal! We help each other all get home and then go our own ways!”   


Ratchet sighed. “I was just joking Nefarious, you can calm your gears…”    


“If I am being left behind then I refuse to be here alone.  I want some kind of a guarantee that you’ll come back.”  He jabbed a finger at Talwyn and insisted, “She stays with me.  I’m guessing you won’t risk leaving your girlfriend behind.”   


Ratchet let out a frustrated huff, “ _ She’s _ not my girlfriend.  And a deal’s a deal.  I swear we’ll-”   


“I’ll stay behind with him,” Talwyn piped up.   


“...Oh?” Ratchet blinked at the Markazian, surprised she would volunteer to be collateral.  “You sure Tal?” 

  
“He’s right, he has no reason to believe we’ll come back for him if we just leave him behind.  Just make sure the Dimensionator works.  Don’t want to be stuck with him forever.”  


“He may drive you nuts,” Ratchet quipped.

  
“He definitely will.”

  
“ _I’m_ standing right here!”

Jens listened to the conversation before butting in, her mouth still full of food. “Couldn’ you go one at a time and just hold hands or somthin’?”

“That could work too, but I doubt he would want to hold my hand.” He tilted his head to Nefarious.

“What?” She turned to the doctor, “Are you scared of the ‘squishie’ germs?” Jens wiggled her fingers directly in his face as he took a step back and rolled his eyes.

“We also need to consider limiting the amount of wormholes we create within the short time span,” Clank chirped, “We do not want to risk causing a tear within reality.”  
  
“Are you sure it’ll work, Ratchet?” Talwyn replied, worried, “There's a chance this could go wrong in the end...”

“Trust me, Tal, we’re going to get home in one piece.  Clank, I’m going to need your help.”

“Yes Ratchet, I am here to assist.” Clank replied.

“Good, we’ll leave soon.” Ratchet then looked over to Jens. “Thanks for all the help, we appreciate it.”

“Oh,” She scratched the back of her head. “My pleasure. It’s been a ride, just wish it lasted longer.  _ I mean, _ no, I want you guys to return home and all, but-” 

“You’ll miss us?”

Jens gave a snort. “Maybe just a little. Rarely do I get company and all.”

“We won’t forget everything you did for us Jens,” The lombax put his hand on her shoulder to assure her, “You’ve been a great friend, but you know we can’t stay.”

She exhaled before speaking. “I know, I know. I won’t forget you guys neither. Seein’ as, it’s hard to forget someone who tried to kill you,” she joked as she pointed over to Nefarious. He didn’t bother to respond.

There was a small smile from that comment as Ratchet let go of her. “Anyways we should get ready.”

“What! You ain’t gonna finish your food? I’m insulted.”

“...ok,  _ after _ we finish breakfast then…”

* * *

 

Ratchet clipped the Dimensionator to his belt as the four grabbed everything they needed.

“Everyone ready?”

The group followed the Lombax out the door as Jens watched them leave. She kept her gaze fixated on them until they were no longer visible over the horizon. 

The girl turned and looked around her tiny home. It felt too big now that it was so empty.  She sighed. “Get home safe, alright…”

* * *

 

The four walked to the beach where both Ratchet and Nefarious first arrived. It was the best place to conduct this experiment. It was quiet and no one was around. They didn’t want anyone to suspect anything more out of the ordinary than what they already had.

“You know,” the Lombax spoke as they strolled down the path, “I’m kinda disappointed we didn’t bump into Vorselon. He could have given us some answers. At least I’d hope.”

Nefarious just rolled his eyes. “You know once you get him to start talking, you’ll never get him to shut up.” 

Ratchet snorted. “Not wrong about that. But, if it’s our only lead…”

“ _ Ahem _ ,” Clank butted in, still on Ratchet’s back. “I think we have company.”

“Who, Vorselon?!” Ratchet shouted out; alarmed.

“More like a brat,” The mad robot exclaimed.

There was Jens; trying to catch her breath after sprinting as fast as she could. Right beside her was a suitcase that she had carried along with her. “Man, I’m glad I caught up with you guys…”   
  
The group just stared at her, confused. “Jens, what are you doing here?” Ratchet asked.   
  
“Well,” she huffed between her words, “After all the time we spent together and hearin’ the stories you told about your home. I figured I’d ask, if I could, uh…”   
  
The lombax raised an eyebrow. “Ask what?”   
  
“Well, I, erm…”   
  
“ _Jens?_ ”   
  
The girl tried to compose herself. “Well,” She took a nervous breath in before finishing, “I wanted to ask if I can come along.”   
  
“What?” Ratchet was still trying to process her request. “I...don’t think that’s a good idea Jens.”   
  
“What? Why not?”   
  
“ _Pff_ , besides the obvious?” Nefarious butted in.   
  
“I didn’ ask you, gear head!” Jens turned back to Ratchet, “Just hearin’ everythin’ about your home. The technology, your adventures; I want to see it all for myself!”   
  
“I understand Jens, but it’s too risky to-”   
  
“But with everythin’ that happened,” She didn’t let the lombax even finish his words as she tried to convince him, “it’s obvious you could use the extra hands! I want to help! Besides, it’s borin’ here!”  
  
Talwyn grew frustrated of silently listening to Jens’s protests. “So you just want to come with us because it sounds like a free vacation? We have a threat to handle, Jens!  This isn’t some game!” She turned over to the lombax and was surprised to see a contemplative look on his face. “Please tell me you aren’t considering this, Ratchet! Yes, I admit she’s been helpful, but if she came with us she’d be a liability. We don’t have half a clue of what’s going on with this empire thing. And what if she can’t return home, or she gets herself killed? We don’t even know if this device is going to work to begin with...”   
  
“Tal, I’m well aware of the risk. And I didn’t agree to anything yet.”   
  
“But I promise to behave myself! Please let me come with you for a bit!” Jens looked like she was about to get on her knees to beg. “Please, please, please, _pretty_ please…”   
  
Ratchet just sighed. “Tal’s right though. It’s a huge risk and if this is as big of a threat as it sounds then you can get seriously hurt. I’m sorry, we have to say no…”   
  
“But-”   
  
“Jens, I get it. You want to help, but we can’t just take you home with us.”   
  
As disappointed as she was she wasn’t going to argue. “I...I understand.” Jens turned around and started to walk the other way. “Good luck Ratchet.”

They watched her walk off. Ratchet let out a sigh. “C’mon. Let’s get going…”

 

* * *

 

Ratchet unclipped the Dimensionator off his belt with Clank already on his back. The lombax took a long breath in.  “Well, here goes nothing…” He raised the device up above his head and commanded, “Dimensionator, find Torren IV!”

After the order was given, light shimmered around them as the Dimensionator activated as they covered their eyes from the glow it greeted them. It wasn’t long until a bright flash took Talwyn and Nefarious by surprise. Just a blink of an eye later, Ratchet and Clank were gone.

Now there was nothing Talwyn or Nefarious could do but hope they were able to get back...

 

* * *

 

**_ZAP!_ **

Ratchet glanced around the area. Seeing they had arrived back on Torren IV, he put on a small smile. “Well, looks like we made it home in one piece.”

Clank got off his back, as the pair started to look around for Aphelion. “And it is good to be here.”

“Ratchet? Where have you been?” Aphelion flew right out of the scrap pile she was pretending to be lifeless in. “You were gone for the whole week...”

“It’s a long story; I’ll talk it over with you as I install something.” Ratchet hopped into the driver's seat, as Aphelion ranted.

“Seriously,” She continued as if she was a mother scolding her child, “You had me extremely worried, I thought something terrible happened to you! You took so long that I started to act as trash so that I would not risk being stolen! Do you know that crime is rampant on Torren IV?!”

“Aphelion, it isn't crime, it's taking what someone doesn't want. That's why it's called junk.”

“Hmph! Well, I am not junk and to think you-!”

“I know you aren't Aphelion. You’ve been more than just a ship to me the last few years. I'd still be stuck on Fastoon if it weren't for you.” The Lombax regained his focus. “Ok, now how could I do this?”

“Do what?” asked Aphelion.

Ratchet inserted the device into the Infobot slot, suspenseful to see whether she could read it or not. “Can you run this program?”

“Yes, I can, but… I am confused. What is with this information about dimensional travel that it’s trying to download?”

“Well…” Ratchet explained it to her as she started to download the software…

* * *

 

Nefarious stomped his foot impatiently. “You think they got back alright?”

“I don’t know,” Talwyn answered, “Hopefully they did.”

“Well they better hurry up! The sooner we all return home, the quicker we can return back to our lives.”

“You think Ratchet is just going to let you go? You’re a wanted criminal, remember?”

“Oh, you can try to capture and arrest me, if you have a death wish.”

Talwyn didn’t bother to reply to his remark. All she gave was a cheeky smile before turning around to stare at the bright cloudless sky. However, her focus changed as a feeling of dread went down her spine. She swore she heard a soft yet deeply vile laugh from behind her. And it sure didn’t sound like the doctor. “Nefarious did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Nefarious raised an eyebrow…

The two quickly scanned their surroundings and not a moment later, a projectile flew their way. It came so fast that they couldn’t leap out of the way before it made impact, taking both of them up a foot in the air before landing right back on the sand. Nefarious shook his head trying to get back to his senses as he looked over to Talwyn. “You didn’t break anything did you? I _don’t_ need to hear that rodent blaming me if you went and snapped one of your weak organic bones.”   
  
“ _Pff_ , nice of you to care.”   
  
Talwyn glared in the direction the missile came from.  She reached for her blaster from her holster and insisted, “Come on, we have to fend them off before Ratchet and Clank come back.”  
  
Nefarious extended his hands, dark energy bursting from his palms.  “Sure, sounds like a fun way to pass the time...”  
  


* * *

 

“So that was what happened the last few days,” Ratchet finished his story as he took out his Contstructo Bomb Glove and Plasma Slayer from Aphelion’s storage compartments in her nose while she was still trying to wrap her head around the new information. Though with what happened with Tachyon, it wasn’t so far fetched.

“And where are the others?”

“They’re still in the other dimension.” The lombax then turned over to Clank. “How far are we in the download?”

“Eighty-eight point five percent.”

“But, why did you leave them there?” Aphelion questioned Ratchet’s logic. 

“Well,” He hopped back into the cockpit as he watched the percentage on the screen, “That’s where you come in. This portable Dimensionator can only transport two people at a time. But with you as a vessel, it would technically only count as one, right?”

“I see. Clever thinking!”

“Ninety-five point eight percent,” The little robot then looked up, “Are you sure this will work?”

“I’m sure Clank. If not, I don’t know what else to do…”

“Download complete!” Aphelion voice started to sound a bit anxious. “Hopefully this won’t fry my systems. We’re taking a risk here to begin with...”

“Don’t worry, Aphelion, we’ll be fine!” Ratchet swiped his hand in the air, and one of his fingers brushed the screen, causing the menu displayed on it to change. “Hey, I didn’t know this was a touch screen!” he exclaimed, pressing on some menu items.

“It has always been part of my specs but you never showed any need to use it. Most of the time the holoscreen was only used for displaying coordinates or watching Behind the Hero and RoboChef.”

“RoboChef?” Ratchet said, knowing he didn’t watch that boring show. “Clank…?” He turned to the robot with a suspicious look.

“What?” was the only reply Clank gave him.

“The touch functionality has not been used for a long time,” Aphelion continued. “Since my last owner that is…”

“Do you remember who your last owner was?”

“I am sorry, but that data seems to have been wiped from my memory banks. The initial crash, and nearly two decades sitting out in the open on a dusty desert planet, has completely erased the majority of my former knowledge. Some days I am surprised I can remember to pump oxygen into the cockpit while we are in space!”

His ears drooped down, as neither the answer nor the comment afterwards made him feel any better about his situation of being the last Lombax in the universe. While he knew he wasn’t going to get the most positive response, he still hoped for some knowledge, even just a little bit. Ratchet wanted to know more about his race, but from Aphelion, Tachyon, Alister, and the IRIS Supercomputer, all he had were fragments and pieces.

Moving to the task at hand, the Lombax shook his head and regained focus. “All right, prepare for take off!”

“Affirmative!”

Ratchet looked down over to Clank, with a big smile. “Hang on Clank, I have a feeling this is going to be a bumpy ride!”

The engines roared from the flames shooting out of her thrusters as Aphelion hovered off the ground. Quickly after, she shot right out into the sky until a loud  _ zap _ signaled the emergence of a wormhole. Aphelion flew through it, and the wormhole snapped shut with a bang. The only thing left behind were a pair of fire trails floating in the sky, twirling as their own momentum tossed them about...

* * *

 

**_ZAP!!_ **

Aphelion slowed down as they arrived at the beach. She gracefully flew down on the sand, with Ratchet and Clank quickly jumping out. “Ok guys, we’re bac-”

Ratchet’s eyes widened from the sight of Talwyn and Nefarious tied up by an electric barrier, struggling to get out. The girl spotted the lombax. “Ratchet!”

“Oh great, look who’s  _ back _ . Took you long eno-” Nefarious’s teeth ground together as he was zapped by Vorselon from where he stood nearby.

“I thought I told you to stay silent!!” Just from his tone, it was easy to say that he wasn’t in the best of moods. Swiftly focusing his eye in the other direction, his bitter mug cracked a smile from the sight of the Lombax. “ _ Ah _ , Ratchet. I thought you would never come. I was growing impatient. I thought I would have to destroy your friends to pass the time...”

“I’m not his frie-!”

Shocked again, Nefarious’ eyes twitched from the anger and pain inside of him.

“Silence, or I  _ will _ kill you!!!” 

Ratchet growled, balling both of his hands into tight fists, not the least bit pleased that they had to bump into the smug bastard.

His opponent, on the other hand, enjoyed watching the fury in his eyes. The angrier he was, the more fun the fight would be.

“Well, well, how is my little  _ friend  _ doing?” Vorselon slithered closer to both the Lombax and Clank. The cheer in his voice didn’t make the heroes feel any easier. His mechanical body still wasn’t repaired, but there was no doubt he was capable of putting up a fair fight.

Besides, he didn’t want to disappoint his client...

“We were fine until you showed up…” Ratchet raised his wrench, just in case the enemy would strike. And knowing Vorselon, he would, and viciously. 

Though this surprise encounter finally gave Ratchet an opportunity to ask questions. Hopefully the Terraklon wouldn’t annoy them to death...

“What are you here for?”

“I'm here to-”

“No wait, don't tell me!” The Lombax interrupted sarcastically, “You're here because that Laynie person sent you, right? You seem to love taking orders from her.”

“Why you little!” Vorselon snarled. “ _ Nobody _ pronounces my little Lania's name wrong!!”

“ _ Little _ Lania? Aww, that's so cute!” Ratchet put on a puppy dog face in mockery.

“Don’t test me Lombax! It was an order from Lania to kill every single one of you, but I was going to be generous today and let  _ them _ live.” He jabbed a finger at Talwyn and Nefarious, “And I  _ assure  _ you, keep throwing around those insults, and you’ll  _ see _ how quickly I can change my mind.”

“Ratchet, please shut him up already!” Nefarious shouted out in irritation, “Seriously, why did you have to get him talking to begin-”

Vorselon turned around with a dark glare as he boosted up energy from his palm.   Nefarious was helpless to do anything but glare at it nervously.

“ _ On second thought _ , you two have fun catching up! Don’t mind me!” 

“So Vorselon, Why are you working for this ‘Lania’ person anyway?” Ratchet asked

“Isn't it obvious? Look at my profession, I'm a  _ mercenary _ ! I take orders from the highest bidder!”

“So you're a greedy snob who only cares about how many bolts he's getting bribed with?  Not exactly a flattering self-descriptor.”

“It's not just about the pay,  _ you _ filthy rat!!! It's also about making Empress Lania happy!” Vorselon then put his hands on his chest as half of his tentacles popped up in the air as if he just came out of a romance novel front cover. “Oh, my evil Terraklon heart starts beating ever so fast every time I'm with her…”

It took a second or two for Ratchet to process, and it took far less for him to finally burst out laughing. “That’s just  _ ridiculous _ !” His words were muffled from all of the cackling he was doing.

“Not to mention anatomically impossible.” Clank followed.

Vorselon just glared at the Lombax as his eye twitched with tranquil fury. He grasped his fist to hold back his anger despite it charging up.

Ratchet’s laughter calmed as he then looked up at the Terraklon. “I never knew you were the romantic type, Vorselon!”

“Of course I'm romantic! You think us Terraklons are all about killing and torture?!”

“Well, yeah.”

“Well not  _ this _ Terraklon!!” He pointed to himself in pride.

All three of them turned around to Nefarious who was now cracking up manically. “Oh,  _ that’s _ just rich. The fact that whatever puny remains left of you landed a catch,” He would have jumped around like an idiot if he wasn’t tied down at the moment as he looked over to Talwyn who just rolled her eyes, “Man, this Lania must have been  _ really _ desperate to end up with-”

It wasn’t until another zap from Vorselon’s hands rang out that he finally shut up and remained quiet. “... _ Doctor _ , if  _ you _ mind?” He was snarling through his teeth as he quivered in annoyance (and possibly embarrassment). It didn’t take too long for him to get himself back together and regain his focus.

Ratchet just put his hand on his forehead. “Yeah, well, if you don’t mind, can you let go of them please? Trust me when I say no one is really interested in your love life.  If you could lay off of that topic too, I think we’d all appreciate it.”    


“You must think I’m a fool to acknowledge that kind of request.”    


“Which one?”

The Terraklon snarled as he fired up his hand quickly throwing an attack at Ratchet.

“Whoa!” Ratchet rolled out of the way before it could touch him only for the tip of his ear to get scorched, causing him to yell out in pain.  “Damn it!” It stung, badly, but it would take more than a burn to bring him down. 

Now furious, The lombax slowly got up and looked over to his robot companion. “Clank, go help out the others, I’ll distract the goldfish…”

Clank nodded as he went over to the two trapped.

“Funny seeing you cry over a little scratch, Lombax,” Vorselon mocked his foe, “I thought you would be used to the pain by now?” 

Ratchet raised his wrench higher, spreading his legs far apart. “Can it Vorselon, let’s just get this over with.”

An electric pulse started raging from both of the mercenary’s hands as he held a terrifying grin on his mug, playing with the power like a slinky. “I never thought you would ask!” He fired a bunch of bombs right at Ratchet as he got out of the way before they hit him. A second later though, they went off; emitting a shockwave

The impact made Ratchet fall to the ground as he landed face down into the sand. He spat out the dirt from his mouth as he saw the pistol Jens had given him a few days ago fall from his pants pockets. As primitive as it was, it was his only weapon. He quickly grabbed it and started to fire at his foe hoping it would at least leave a dent only for Vorselon to already have his holo-shield up and ready before the shots could hit him. They bounced off it and onto the sand. The Terraklon watched the bullets land beside him as he smiled.  “I guess that last battle didn’t teach you anything…”

Yeah, not the best choice of weapons to use...

Meanwhile, Clank was still trying to figure out how to free his friends from the barrier. “Please give me a second or two.” The little robot tried to see if he could break through it by normal means but just touching it with his fingers gave him quite the shock. “Ow.”

After shaking his hand a bit from the pain, Clank rubbed his chin in thought. “Hmm, seems this will be trickier than I originally thought.”

Ratchet suddenly remembered he brought his Constructo-Bomb Glove with him when they arrived from Torren IV. Hopefully more powerful artillery would do the trick. With a press of a button, a grenade popped into his palm. “Taste this, fish tank!” 

The lombax engaged his hoverboots charging right at Vorselon; tossing out several bombs as he circled around him. The Terraklon tried slithering out of the way of each attack. An impact of one of the bombs left him to fall to the ground.

“Yes!” Ratchet shouted out, happy that he was at least able to get one shot to bring his foe down. He shut off his hoverboots but before he came to a stop; a bolt struck him and had him flying into a boulder.

He rubbed the back of his pounding head and once Ratchet was able to regain his surroundings, he quickly took notice that Vorselon was already back on his ‘feet’ as he was coming closer and closer to him. A chilling grin went across his face as he boosted more energy from his hands

Ratchet tried to let another bomb out of his glove, but he was out of ammo. “Great.” Still, he wasn’t going to give up just yet.

The lombax got right back up. Only a foot away from him, Ratchet took out his wrench and gave Vorselon a good whack on his tank and a trail of the ectowater dripped down as the Terraklon growled in frustration.

He looked at the Lombax as he held a hand over the crack, trying to stop the flow. “ _ You dare….” _

The only thing Ratchet could do was smile with satisfaction. Though, that didn’t last for long as Vorselon slammed his hand right to the ground letting loose another shock wave which took Ratchet with it once again.

Vorselon remained in the same spot with his hand covering the small hole. 

Ratchet looked back over to Clank. “Um, Clank? How much longer…?” His stomach dropped. His foe’s tank stopped leaking enough for him to let go of it and focus back on the Lombax.  

“Clank?!” Ratchet called out.

Clank turned over to Ratchet as he took out his Geolaser. “I am still in the progress of releasing them.”

“Well, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up for…” The Lombax quickly ran back over to Vorselon and gave another swing of his wrench. The foe got a hold of it however and swung it over his head with Ratchet still holding on. “ _ Aah _ !” He landed flat on the ground. “Crap…”

Clank then spotted the hatch that was holding the barrier together. “Do not move.” He fired up his laser and started to cut through the metal as Nefarious and Talwyn watched.

Ratchet’s back was now throbbing and he felt dizzy. He looked up, and saw Vorselon staring right down at him with a smirk. He was about to slam his hand back onto the ground. Ratchet’s opened his eyes wide in shock.

He rolled out of the way before the impact could hit him. “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…” Ratchet quickly got up running trying to find a viable spot. Taking out his pistol once more, he fired rapidly until it ran out of bullets and all he was left with was a paper weight. 

“Any last words rat?” Vorselon’s hands powered up again.

“Um, yeah, here’s one,” Ratchet then threw the gun at Vorselon’s suit. Which only succeeded in bouncing off of him and spraying sand on his tentacles once it hit the ground. He just stood there baffled.

“...Did you  _ seriously  _ think that was going to stop me?”

The lombax offered him a cheeky grin, which only confused the Terraklon even more. “No, but I know this will. Nefarious?!” 

“Stand back, Lombax!!” Nefarious shouted from behind them with his jet boots lifting him off the ground as he fired up his attack. “Let’s finish this once and for all!!”

Ratchet leapt out of the way. Vorselon was about to follow, but was stopped dead in his tracks by dark matter raining from above. Nefarious laughed as if he was a child given a new toy and kept firing until he thought it was enough to take him down. 

After getting the impression that he was taken care of; the mad robot hovered back to the ground and deactivated his jet boots as he rubbed his hands together. “He was always a pain in the ass.  _ Anyways _ , now that he’s taken care of, can we please-”

“Um, Nefarious?” Talwyn interrupted as she pointed at the smoke left behind.

“What?” 

Nefarious saw a silhouette though the dusk cloud. It was only once the smoke cleared did he spot Vorselon still standing with a shield covering his whole body. The scientists’ eyes just widened from the realization that his attack didn’t even leave a single dent. 

“How are you _ still alive _ ?!! Seriously, you should have been a pile of-”

Vorselon responded with nothing but launching a powerful shock in Nefarious’s direction. This flung the robot far from his opponent. The Terraklon shut down his force field as he flicked the dust off of his suit like he was nothing more than a mild inconvenience. “Obnoxious piece of tin...”

Ratchet could see the fury his foe had just by staring at him straight in the eye. Vorselon had enough.

Once more, electricity roared from his hands and he slammed them down, letting out a shockwave directed toward Clank and Talwyn. The sand underneath them shifted violently preventing them from keeping themselves balanced.

“Clank!!” Without warning, another assault came at Ratchet but this time he didn’t have time to dodge as the impact caused him to be lifted off the ground and fly across the beach once again, only to have himself forcefully hit the ground a few times before slamming into another rock.

Before he could even get up, he was grabbed by the neck by Vorselon as he struggled to escape from his grasp. Ratchet couldn’t get it out of his mind that this was going to be the end. He tried to reach for his wrench only for the bastard to kick it out of the way with his tentacles.

“How does it feel, Lombax, to finally face defeat?” The sadistic tone Vorselon held didn’t help Ratchet feel any less afraid  causing his tail to quiver in fear. “I had to so many times because of you, and I didn’t like it one bit. But now,  _ I _ finally will emerge  _ victorious _ .”

“Ratchet!” Talwyn ran over to them in hope to stop the Terraklon, but he took notice before she could even get close enough. A trail of electricity flew at her and pushed her aside.

“Talwyn!” Ratchet shouted her name as he tried to fight back. “Let go of me, you scum!!”

“If you know what’s good for you, you better  _ stay back _ !” Vorselon warned Talwyn, “Unless you want to end up like your ‘boyfriend’ here…” He then returned back to the Lombax as a vicious smile stretched across his face.  “What’s  _ wrong, _ Ratchet? Can’t stand  _ losing _ ," His grip on the Lombax's throat tightened and Ratchet let out a strangled cry, "Or is the pain simply  _ unbearable _ …?”

Nefarious rubbed his dome as his right eye wobbled around in its socket. He shook his head to return to his senses and saw the fish had hold of Ratchet. And that made him furious…

“…Don’t worry though,” Vorselon sneered, “It will be all over very short- GAH!!” The Terraklon was caught off guard and pushed out of the way. Ratchet landed safely on the sand, rubbing his neck as he tried to regain his breath.  As he looked straight ahead he saw Nefarious steps apart from him as the power from his hands died down.

Ratchet was baffled. Did Nefarious…just save him? No, that was practically impossible. This was  _ Nefarious _ ; he wouldn’t be caught  _ dead _ saving someone, let alone an organic life form.  But that was the least of his worries…

“Ratchet,” Talwyn still sounded distressed as she ran up to him with Clank, “Are you alright?!”

“Yeah, I think I’m fine,” He sighed in relief before facing Nefarious. “Nefarious, you saved me…”

“Yeah, so?” Nefarious crossed his arms and struggled at the comment.

“I don’t know, just seems...out of character, I guess?”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t push it; I only saved your Squishie behind because you’re my only ticket home! Otherwise, I would have let Cyclops over there have his fun.”

Nefarious turned his back to the lombax. Deep down in his circuitry, he knew he didn’t need to save Ratchet. He could have easily let Vorselon kill the rat and stolen his ship, leaving the other two behind to rot, or worse if that moron stuck around. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for him. He’d committed crueler acts before. Many, in fact.

But he didn’t. Perhaps the last few days of begrudging cooperation were enough reason to let his mortal enemy live another day. As much as he hated to admit it; he would have been lost without him. At least now he was sure he was no longer indebted to him.

That, and the Squishy’s death would be  _ his _ reward,  and he would not allow it to be stolen by some fish...

Ratchet picked up his wrench and looked over his saviour in contemplation. The Lombax wasn’t sure if it was right to thank Nefarious or not. He was sure the doctor had acted out of some ulterior motive.  He couldn’t care less about an organic life, especially not his. But still, just to be nice…

“Well, regardless of the reason; thanks.”

Though, being  _ nice _ to someone you hate didn’t leave a good aftertaste...

Vorselon slowly got up. The robot left a good dent in his body from that attack. All he could think about was what he was about to do to him to make him pay...

“Yeah, yeah, let’s not harp on this. It really isn’t a big de-”

Nefarious screeched as Vorselon ran into him and pushed him onto a boulder.  “ _ I’ve _ had  _ enough _ of  _ this _ !” He forcefully shoved his fist into Nefarious’ chest and let out a powerful shock as his victim screamed in pain.

Vorselon took his fist out of the hole he had formed and stared angrily into the robot's eyes.

A huge opening within his chest was left as the wires hung out and his gears were left exposed. Sparks crackled as he glared up at his foe. Small coughs and dizziness overtook him as his eyes became dim, and he was feeling weaker and weaker by the second with every ‘breath.’

A pleased expression was on the Terraklon’s face after seeing the results. Considering all Nefarious put him though when he’d worked for him and the audacity of him interfering with his current job, he thought it was a rightful ‘punishment.’ And, boy, did he  _ revel  _ in every second of it...

“That's what happens when you mess with  _ Lord Vorselon! _ Perhaps next time you’ll think twice,  _ doctor _ !” A dark laugh followed as he boosted up his hand for another blow. “If I’ll allow there  _ to be  _ a next time!”

**_BOOM!_ **

_ “Ah!!” _  Vorsleon’s tank flew right up into the air from an assault from behind.

His suit blew up on him before he could give the final blow. Nefarious’ sight was still blurry, but he could easily make out Ratchet in the background holding up his Plasma Slayer. Smoke was still rising up in the air from its last use. 

“Nice shot,” Talwyn remarked.

“ _ Argh _ !” Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn turned around from hearing the frustration coming from Vorselon, with his tank buried deep within the sand. “ _ You _ rotten rodent! That was just a lucky shot!! No one can defeat Lord Vorselon! _ No one _ ! You hear me!?!”

Ratchet could only roll his eyes before he walked over to him.

“Come back here and-” His eye looked up after noticing a shadow looming over him, as his ears lowered down and his pupil widened in fear. “Oh…”

The Lombax kicked him with his left foot as hard as he could with the Terraklon yelling as he sailed through the air.

“ _ Wretched  _ space rat!!” Vorselon’s voice became quieter the farther he went.

Talwyn stood next to Ratchet as he watched the enemy take off. “Well, at least that problem is taken care of.”

“Trust me; this won’t be the last we see of him. I know from experience.” Ratchet turned around and saw Nefarious trying to get up, holding his chest. However, the robot fell right back down to his knees…

“C’mon,” Ratchet started to walk over to Aphelion, not looking back, “Let’s go.”  
  
As the other two followed him, Clank couldn’t help but feel bad for the doctor. Leaving him behind would be waiting for death to take him. The small robot stopped in his tracks.  
  
“Ratchet?”  
  
The lombax stopped and turned around. “Yeah pal?”  
  
“As eager as we all are to return home, I do not believe it is right to leave Nefarious behind.”  
  
One of Ratchet’s ears drooped down with the other rose in confusion. “Um, what now?”  
  
“He is in critical condition and his life is in danger. If he does not get the maintenance required he will die.”  
  
“And your point?”  
  
“Nefarious saved your life, Ratchet. I think it would be the noble thing to return the favor.”  
  
“Wait what?” Was he hearing this right? Did Clank just say that they should help Nefarious? “You do realise this _is_ Nefarious we’re talking about here, right? Our _enemy_?”  
  
“ _And_ the fact he kidnapped you once and tried to destroy the space-time continuum,” Talwyn added. “Besides, it’s not like he’d be grateful if we did save his life.”  
  
“I am well aware of his crimes, Talwyn, but without Nefarious’ help we may have never been able to build the device to begin with. He was just as much part of the team as you or I. It is unfair to use the machinery he helped build to leave him stranded here.” Clank turned back to Ratchet, “I do not see the harm in putting our hatred behind us once more.”  
  
“Clank, even if he helped us; he’s still a threat. You can’t seriously expect him to change his ways right after he recovers.”  
  
“Lea-leave me here,” Nefarious insisted as he wheezed in between words, “I refuse to be indebted to you squishies again!"  
  
“See,” Ratchet retorted to Clank. “He wants us to leave him here. C’mon guys, we’re wasting time with this…”  
  
“Ratchet!”  
  
“ _Clank_? C’mon.”  
  
The little robot didn’t move from his spot. He then gave Ratchet a glare as he put his hands on his hips.  
  
“ _Clank_ , don’t look at me like that....”  
  
Clank just tilted his head in response, unwilling to back down.  
  
“ _Oh c’mon_! Are you _serious_?!” Of course, Ratchet wasn’t immune to his insistence. And the more he looked into his eyes, the harder it was to say no. Still...  
  
Ratchet just sighed as he shook his head. “Sometimes, I think I'm way too forgiving.  Fine, but I won’t like it. Tal, help me out would you?”  
  
Talwyn seemed baffled but she didn't continue the debate. “...Of course…”

They both walked up to Nefarious and put his arms around their shoulders only for him to rebutt in anger. “You _ came back _ ?! What's  _ wrong _ with you?! I'm not gonna accept any help from a Squishie like  _ you _ !”

 “Just for once, try to ignore the whole arch-nemesis deal…”

 They carried the mad robot over to Aphelion. Clank followed and they all entered the ship.

 “Oh my,” Aphelion replied after ‘seeing’ the sight of the four cramped up in just a small space. “Are you conformable back there?” She asked humorously.

  “…Aphelion, just get us home…”

 “Right away, Ratchet!” Her thrusters fired up, pushing her above the sand as the passengers moaned in pain.

  “It is quite stuffy in here, is it not?” Clank remarked.

  “Just be lucky Qwark isn’t with -Gah! Nefarious, your  _ foot _ is going up my-”

 “Shut it Lombax, I don’t want to hear anything for the remainder of the ride…”

“This is going to be a fun trip home.” Talwyn faced-palmed as Clank let out a cheesy chuckle.

 Aphelion zoomed right into the sky and  _ zapped _ into a wormhole once more, leaving this dimension and heading back to their own…

* * *

 

           “Aaaaah! Ow!” Vorselon bounced into and out of the sand as he finally hit the ground _ , _ shouting out in pain as his head slammed into his tank with every bump.  It finally came to a halt and stood up on it’s bottom. He pouted, unamused, and sighed. “Filthy rat…”

There was then a loud blast and behind him a portal appeared. Coming out were two guards followed by a woman with blue skin and tentacles cascading from her head like hair. She glanced down at him with her golden eyes as she crossed her arms.

 The Terraklon greeted her with a cheesy grin as he looked up.   “Hi honey!”

 Lania just rolled her eyes. “Well, this is a familiar sight. Let me guess; you _didn’t_ kill them?”

 “Well, you see, I, well,” He couldn’t think of a single excuse. “Erm, no.”

She sighed. “We’ll discuss this later, Flint. Though if you don’t mind me asking, why are you without your suit?”

“It, um, blew up.”

 “Ugh.” Lania rubbed her temple in frustration. She then picked him up and carried him back with her. She didn’t say anything more. As calm as she was now; Vorselon knew that it wasn’t going to last once they returned to HQ. Far from it…

 

* * *

 

**_ZAP!_ **

The gang arrived home at the Apogee Space Station. Aphelion entered the small docking bay, parking right next to Cronk’s ship. As she came to a complete stop, Ratchet jumped out and Talwyn helped him get Nefarious out of the ship. They were greeted by Cronk, Zephyr and Qwark with worried, yet somewhat grateful looks on their faces…

 “Miss Apogee,” Zephyr said to Talwyn as he walked in, “Where have ya been the last few days? We were worried…”

 “Well, since you’re all back safe and sound, we can-” Before Qwark could even finish his own sentence, he took sight of Nefarious. He jumped up into the air screaming and landed into Cronk’s arms. “Gah, what’s he doing here?!”

“Get off of me, you darn fool!” Cronk fell right to the floor from Qwark’s weight. The superhero then looked right down at him as he sat on the decrepit robot.

  “Erm, um sorry.”

  Ratchet shook his head.  “Let’s just say it’s a long story, Qwark. We’ll explain it all later. Right now though, Nefarious needs our help.”

Cronk and Zephyr took Nefarious out of their hands and walked him away to get him patched up, leaving the other four alone. The lombax sighed.

“Let’s hope we don’t regret this…”

His ears started to twitch from the sound of  _ thumps  _ coming from Aphelion’s trunk. Ratchet took the defensive and raised his wrench high, preparing for whatever was hiding in there. Then a moment later…

Jens popped out and scanned her surroundings. “Man, that was one bumpy ride.” She then saw the others. “Oh, hey y’all,” the girl cheerfully waved.

_ “Jens…!?” _

**-End of Chapter Six-**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus ends the rewritten 1st act. Six chapters down, six more to go before I can start writing the new ones.


End file.
